The Little One
by SugoiShawn
Summary: When Shawna's mother goes missing, it's up to her and her brother to find out what's going on. However, things aren't as they seem. There's a whole new world and family that she's never even heard of until now.
1. Jump the Shark

"What are we doing here, Adam?" I whispered as he pulled into the parking spot in his beat up old car.

"I told you. I tried to call Dad and these two men picked up. They're going to help us find Mom." Adam opened the door and slid out. I soon followed after him.

"Is Mom dead? You won't tell me anything! I'm sixteen, I can handle it." I said as he pushed the door open to the cafe.

Adam looked around the room and I shyly stood behind him. A man from the back corner had raised his hand.

I grabbed Adam's hand so that he could lead me forward. These guys looked nothing but trouble. One had rather long hair for a guy and seemed kind enough, but the other one looked uptight about something.

"You Sam?" Adam asked as he sat down. I pulled a chair over from another table and sat down in it.

"Yeah. Uh, this is Dean," the man named Sam said while pointing at the other guy. "And who's this?"

I looked at Adam nervously, so he answered for me. "This is my little sister Shawna."

I glared at Adam then diverted my eyes to the ground.

"So, um...how did you know our dad?"

I looked up at Adam. He was acting off again. He never cared about Dad before Mom was taken. Something changed in him.

"Uh, we worked together," Sam responded. Sam seemed nice enough, but Dean seemed irritated by something.

"H-how did he die?" my voice cracked and my eyes swelled with tears. I'd never met Dad. He claimed to never have time for me, but he always had time for Adam. It wasn't fair.

"On the job," Sam replied.

My leg started shaking under the table, so I pulled out my phone to distract myself. I looked longingly at a picture of Mom on my phone and tuned out the conversation.

"It's tragic... John's kid... we've never heard of you?" I caught bits and pieces of what the gruff man was saying and looked up from my phone.

"Bet you never heard of me either then," I muttered, putting my phone away.

"You're one of his kids too?" Sam said, looking into my face. _What did he think that Mom was a player or something?_

I nodded my head. "He never bothered to meet me though… Adam, I want to leave."

"No. Come on, Shawna."

I tried to stand, but he yanked on my arm. "Ada-?" I stopped myself from talking and ran out the door.

They shouted my name yet no one followed me. I stopped at the tree in front of our house and climbed onto it.

"Mom. Mom… I need you." I willed myself to cry for the first time in what felt like years. I had found her phone after she disappeared. I couldn't call her. I couldn't do anything.

And now Adam was acting off? It's like I've lost everyone. He was so forceful back at the cafe. Something's not right. Maybe it's just his depression from Dad dying? But he didn't care much about Dad…

I threw my phone into the grass down below. "God! Why?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

As if on cue, a woman began walking by on the street with blonde hair.

"That can't be… mom?" I shouted at her.

She looked up at me. Sure enough, it was her. "You're alive!"

I swung down from the tree.

"Shawna. Where's Adam?

"The cafe. He was meeting with these two guys named Sam and Dean. They're telling Adam about what happened to Dad." Inside I was screaming. Mom goes missing only to worry about where Adam is not me?!

Mom smiled. "Dad's dead."

"Yeah, but his boys aren't." Her smile grew.

"Mom stop. You're scaring me."

I grabbed my phone out of the grass and texted Adam "Please come home right now."

"What do you mean his boys?"

"The Winchester boys are his. It's a pity that you didn't get to know them more before I have to kill you."

I screamed and dropped my phone yet again.

Mom ran at me, tackling me to the ground.

"Help! Help! Someone help!" I shrieked.

"Shush you stupid little human."

I began to sob. "Mom stop. Plea-" my voice turned into a high scream as I felt teeth dig into my arm.

"Shush you!" she lifted her head up, my blood pouring from her mouth and looked forward. I stopped screaming so that I could try to catch my breath while also tilting my head in the direction that she looked at. A black car, I think it may have been an Impala, was rounding the corner.

Mom, or whatever she was now, slid back, grabbing me by the ankles. "Adam! ADAM!" I shrieked in one last attempt to try to stop her.

I was dragged onto the road over where an open pot hole was lying there exposed. I kicked my feet at her trying to free myself.

Adam was right there with those two guys, _my brothers._ They're so close. I felt myself falling and let out one more scream before my head smashed into the ground.

I woke up to blackness and a rotting smell. _Where am I? Am I still alive?_

There was a clang around me. It sounded as if something was thrown or banged against a wall.

"He-" I coughed, there was dirt or dust or something blowing around in here, wherever _here_ was.

"Is someone here?" it was a man's voice, but it was very muffled.

Keeping my mouth closed, I screamed.

Light was suddenly exposed, blinding me. I was lifted up by someone.

"Are you awake? Are you okay?"

My eyes slowly adjusted to the light and I could see the man-it was Dean.

"Dean?"

"Do you know how to get out of here?"

"No. What's going on?" Dean loosened his grip on me and I slid back into whatever I was in before. My eyes finally became fully adjusted to where I was. It was some sort of tomb. There were coffins littering the place. I was in one of those coffins. I let out a shriek.

"Shut up. Dammit. They have Sam." Dean pulled something off one of the other coffins with a grunt. "Cover your head."

He flung the metal object at a window towards the top of the cave. "Holy crap," he said out of frustration.

"Dean stop! Where's Adam?!"

"It's too late for him, but not for Sam."

I bit my lip and looked down at the musty ground when an idea hit me. _Don't cry. Don't cry. Be strong. Stron-_

"I have an idea. I'll hold onto that thing and you shove me up to the window. Maybe with my strength and yours combined, we can break it."

"Great thinking smart ass." He ran over to me. Grabbing the metal stick out of his hands, he slid his arms around my waist and up I went. "You ready?"

I shook my head 'yes'.

A whoosh of wind followed my nod and I was slammed upwards. I held my arms straight, praying for the best.

A cracking noise filled the room.

I looked down at Dean to maybe see if he was proud of me, but instead he said nothing. His lips were barely visible under the straight line that was his mouth.

My eyes skidded away from Dean as I tried to avoid my disappointment, but they fell on something new; Adam.

"Adam! Adam! Let me down!" I squirmed in Dean's arm and tears began to stream down my tired face.

His grip tightened and he pulled me down to his level. "He's gone. I already told you. Get up there already."

I put my hands up to the ground on the surface above and pulled myself up. "Adam… Adam no…" my legs shook violently as I tried to stand up. "But I saw him only a few hours ago…"

"No. That wasn't him," Dean said while pulling the rest of himself out of the underground room. "I don't know what that was, but it wasn't your brother. Where are we?"

"Um I don't know. I figured **you** would know since it seems that you weren't dragged here. By the way, she bit into my arm and it sort of hurts like a lot! Can we go-"

"She? Who?" Dean's voice grew louder as he came closer to me.

"My mom. She's the one who brought me here."

"Shit Sammy. Come on you. Let's go." He grabbed my good arm and dragged me after him as he began to run to his impala.

"Dean wait." I stopped him in his tracks. "My arm is killing me right now."

"It can wait. Come on." He started running again and I soon followed while attempting to ignore the pain. _It could be worse, right?_

Dean reached the impala first and slid into the driver's side. I slid into the passenger side.

"Strap in and shut your cakehole."

I did as he said and buckled up the seat belt. _Cakehole? Who even uses that word? For all I know, Dean could be the bad guy._

He sped down the darkened road, not bothering to stop for anything. I looked down at my arm and put my hand over it.

"Which one is yours again?" he nearly shouted while speeding around the corner onto my street.

"That one," I said, pointing with my good arm at the house with my tree in front.

Dean stopped the car nearly inches from hitting the garage door and hopped out.

I flung my door open and ran after him. _Maybe Adam could still be alive? Maybe I can help him?_

I ran through the open front door while screaming Adam's name.

"Hey!" I heard Dean shout.

I followed his voice into the living room only to find Dean shooting at Adam. My mom was leaning over Sam; he was strapped to a table and bleeding.

"Dean stop! Don't hurt them!" I screamed with every ounce of energy that I had left. _Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me and I didn't actually see Adam's body..._

"Dean, they're ghouls!" Sam shouted.

Ghouls or not, I had to save my brother. I flung myself over to him. His shoulder was bleeding, so I put pressure on it with my hands.

"Adam, it's going to be okay," I said in a relaxed voice, trying to calm him down.

"Which means head-shot," I faintly heard Dean say.

"Shawna! It's not him!" Sam shouted at me.

"You're wrong!" I shouted back while applying even more pressure to Adam's wound.

Adam's eyes flickered open and I pulled him close to me. _He's going to be okay._

There was another gunshot, so I let go of Adam to find Dean shoot my mom right through the head.

"Oh my god! Mom!" I stood up off the ground, my legs shaking.

"Shawna, move. Now." Dean stared at me, his eyes unwavering.

I stood my ground, prepared to take on this massive beast named Dean if I had to.

"Wait Dean! She might be one!" Sam screamed from the table.

Everything that happened next was a blur. I had hit the ground hard on my bad arm and Dean was over Adam, bashing his head in.

"Adam! Adam!" I sobbed while standing up again.

"Dean!" Sam screamed from the table. Dean ran over to Sam and quickly cut through the duct tape that bound him to the table.

Sam sat up quickly and immediately diverted his eyes to me. "Are you one? Are you a ghoul?"

I shook my head, tears still streaming down my dirty face. I lifted my good arm up to the bite mark and bit my lip.

Dean ran out of the room and came back a few minutes later with some towels.

"How do we know for sure that she's not one? Seems like she's lived with them long enough to be one," Dean said while shoving the towels onto Sam. Sam slid back down to a lying position with a groan.

 _How can I prove it?_ I ran up the stairs and came back down with a larger towel. "Dean, catch." I tossed the towel towards him and he easily caught it.

"Come on. Come on. Come on. Hang on. All right, here we go. Here we go. Hang on, buddy. All right." Dean shoved the towel into a wound on Sam's side.

"Thank you, Dean," Sam grunted out.

"That's what family's for, right? Keep pressure on that." Dean moved his hand away from the towel, so Sam began applying pressure to it.

I cringed at the word _family._ Dean apparently noticed my cringe because he walked over to me right away.

"Do you have any other family that you know of?"

I shook my head 'no' and looked to the ground.

"Sammy, you heard of any orphanages 'round here?"

"We're not giving her up, Dean. She's our sister just as much as she was Adam's."

More tears spilled down my tired face at the mention of Adam's name.

"She's sixteen. Come on, Sam. We don't want to ruin her life this early."

"Too late," I muttered under my breath.

"We were younger, Dean."

I looked up at Sam, hope spreading across my sorrowful face. Maybe not all my family is gone. Maybe it's just a new beginning. I moved my hand away from the bite mark and blood began gushing out again.

"Um… guys, I'm feeling a little-" I stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Don't just stand there Dean!" Sam was sitting up now, worry evident on his face.

"I don't do _kids._ " Dean put the emphasize on the word 'kids' as he leaned down to help me. He tore the sleeve off his shirt and wrapped it around my arm.

"Thanks," I coughed out.

"Don't mention it."

I was wearing one of Dean's shirts even though it was the length of a dress on me. My arm was tied up with a cloth and Sam seemed to be in much better shape.

"You sure we should do this?" Sam questioned, not moving his eyes away from Adam's body. We were in a forest and it was dark. I had no clue what time it was or where we were - I had fallen asleep on the way here.

"Ghouls didn't fake those pictures. They didn't fake Dad's journal," Dean said while pouring some sort of gasoline over Adam's body.

"Mom made us both get a blood test to make sure. It's not a lie." My eyes were dry by now. I was sick of crying. I had to be strong.

"Adam was our brother. He died like a hunter. He deserves to go out like one," Dean mentioned while pulling out a lighter.

"Maybe we can bring him back. Get a hold of Cas, call in a favor."

My eyes sparkled with a brief moment of hope. "Who's Cas? Can he really bring my brother back?"

"Adam's in a better place now. There's no point in bringing him back." Dean dropped the match onto Adam's body as soon as it lit.

Sam put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. I couldn't tell if I was crying now or not. There wasn't even a point in crying though, Life moves on, it has to.

"You know, I finally get why you and Dad butted heads so much. You two were practically the same person," Dean said while averting his attention to Sam and I.

"Dad must've been a great person then," I managed to sniffle out.

"I mean, I worshipped the guy, you know? I dressed like him, I acted like him, I listen to the same music. But you were more like him than I will ever be. And I see that now."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Sam pulled me tighter to him.

"You take it any way you want. We aren't alone in this fight anymore."

My arms slid up to hug Sam back.

 **A/N: I hope you guys liked this first chapter! For this fanfiction, I will skip around but write it episode by episode. Please leave a comment if there is an episode that you want me to do. :)**


	2. The Rapture

I woke up with a start. It was 7:30am and Bobby wanted to get back to researching the 66 seals, so he had set an annoying alarm.

I groaned and threw my pillow over my head. Sam and Dean had left me with this nutcase while they were off to do a job. They said I wasn't experienced enough yet to go with them anywhere.

"Hey idjit. Wake up," Bobby said while walking out to the front room. I had been sleeping on the couch (which wasn't actually too bad to be quite honest).

I rolled over with a groan. The sun had barely even risen yet. "Bobby…" I yawned. "When will they be getting back?"

"You think I know?" Bobby's voice seemed farther away as if he might be in the kitchen. "Get yourself dressed. We need to do some more research."

I finally sat up and blinked my eyes a few times. The room was as musty as always. I pulled out my phone with its' cracked screen to see if Sam or Dean had texted me yet, but of course, they hadn't.

I was wearing one of Dean's dirty, old shirts. I wiped my eyes and walked to the almost ancient bathroom.

I slid of my clothes and went into the cold shower (Bobby was such a cheap skate, not wanting to use much hot water).

I shivered. To think just a few days ago I was living a normal life with Adam and my mom. We were happy and perfect.

I let the water spill over my tired face. I want to go back to that. _I can't_ , I reminded myself.

After the shower, I found myself heading over to the kitchen where Bobby was deep in research.

"Did you eat yet?" I yawned.

"Ye… uh huh," he said, preoccupied with his work.

"Listen if you take a break, I don't think anybody will mind." I opened the fridge to attempt at making myself some breakfast. It was filled with beers like usual. I reached in the back and found an old loaf of bread. It wasn't moldy, so I guessed it was okay to eat.

Bobby put down his book and looked at me with seriousness spread across his face. "Lilith isn't resting, so neither are we. Sam and Dean will be high on Lucifer's kill list once he gets out. We can't let them die."

"Why can't that angel guy… uh… Cas, right?" I looked over at Bobby and he nodded his head. "...Just like save them." I pulled a knife out from one the drawers and cut a slice of bread off.

"Do you not understand angels? They aren't just able to stop everything that's happening-" A ring from Bobby's phone made him stop talking. He picked up one of the many cell phones that he had spread across the table and began talking.

I munched into my bread and sat down across the table from Bobby.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Bobby said with frustration in his voice.

I took another bite of bread and looked at Bobby.

"Be safe out there boys." Bobby hung up the phone and set it on the table.

"Was that Sam?"

"No. Dean. Apparently Cas isn't in his vessel anymore."

I took another bite of bread and slowly chewed it, keeping my eyes on Bobby while waiting for him to say more.

He said nothing more about Cas and asked me for another beer.

I got up and grabbed him one.

"Thanks," he muttered while taking it from my hand. "You can have one if you want."

"Bobby… I'm sixteen…"

"So…?" he shrugged and chuckled. "You've got Winchester blood in you and you haven't even had a beer yet?"

I went back to the fridge and swung it open. _I guess Mom won't mind too much now?_ I grabbed one and popped the cap off.

It smelled disgusting. I coughed at the smell then took a small sip.

"Bobby!" I yelled while running over to the sink to spit it out. "It tastes like rat piss."

He started laughing, like genuinely laughing. It was nice to see him off guard and happy.

I started laughing too and sat down next to Bobby. He had multiple books lying on the table, so I took one to read it.

I woke up to the sound of Bobby's phone ringing. I had fallen asleep on top of one of the books and the sun was now starting to fall.

Bobby grabbed his phone and turned the speaker on.

"Dean?" Bobby said gruffly.

"Yeah. It's me. Listen Bobby… we have a problem."

"What's the issue?"

"It's Sam. He's been drinking demon blood and somehow it let's him exorcise demons. I don't know what it does and why it does it, but…"

"We can put him in the panic room then figure out what to do. Get him over here before all chaos breaks loose."

"You can't put him in there!" I shouted. Bobby looked at me startled.

"It's what's best. We have to."

"We can't!" I insisted, sadness was evident in my voice.

"Cas will take care of her… just get the panic room ready. Oh and make some bullshitty excuse up for Sam while you're at it."

"Hurry over here," Bobby replied while shutting his phone.

"You can't be serious." I pushed the book that I used as a pillow shut.

"Do you have any better ideas? That boy could kill us all. He just needs to be in there while we figure out what to do?"

"And Bobby, help him. Please. I don't want to lose another brother." I stood up and walked to the couch where I'd been sleeping.

My fingers slid to my the mark on my arm It didn't hurt anymore, but it was still evident on my skin as if it were a reminder that my normal life was now gone.

"Hey, you and your brother better shag ass to my place ASAP," Bobby's voice sounded from the kitchen.

I slid my face into a pillow. _That damn angel better do something to help Sam._

"The apocalypse, genius. Now get your asses over here."

I pushed my face farther into the pillow and screamed out of frustration.

Within twenty minutes, they arrived. The impala's lights were shining in through the window.

Dean entered first and was soon followed by Sam. A third guy that I'd never met before came in after them.

I sat up and looked at them. _Should I warn Sam?_ I decided to restrain myself.

"Is this the angel?" I asked innocently.

"Yes. This is him," Dean said, clearly distracted by what was going to happen.

Castiel didn't say anything. He just looked in my direction and nodded his head.

"He doesn't look like anything special."

Bobby walked into the room with a gun slung over his shoulder. "Come on boys, I have something important to show ya."

I went to follow after them, but Cas stopped me.

"Stay with me," he said with a weird voice.

"What's up with your voice. It sounds like you're a machine."

Cas looked at me quizzically. "A machine? Why would I be a machine?"

"You just- oh nevermind. Hey Cas. I'm going to use the restroom."

"Stay here until they're done," he insisted, grabbing on my arm to stop any attempt I was going to make.

"But Cas…" I got quiet and looked him in the eyes. "Lady things," I whispered to him.

"Lady… things?" he said slowly as if to test out the words.

"I'm on my period, Cas. Let me go."

"Oh." His face turned slightly red and his fingers quickly released his grip on my arm.

I began to walk towards the restroom. That's one of the things I learned from having a brother; you can get out of anything by mentioning your private woman issues.

I looked back at Cas to see if he was still looking at me. He was staring out the window. The redness was beginning to fade from his cheeks.

I took this as an opportunity to run for it. My feet carried me down the stairs and into the dark basement.

 _Panic room… Panic room…_ My eyes quickly scanned the room until I found them. They were at the side of the large room where a large metal door was located.

"You are. This is for your own good," Bobby said with a scary tone to his voice. Dean and Bobby both reached for the metal door and slammed it shut as Sam walked into the room.

"Sam!" I exclaimed while running at them.

"Dammit Cas," Dean muttered as he turned to face me.

Bobby latched the door and Sam ran up to the window that was located on the door.

"Guys? Hey, hey. What?" Sam looked confused and upset.

"Sam!" I was too late. Dean's arm wrapped around my torso and I was suspended from the air.

Bobby's hand slid over the cold metal one last time as he latched the window shut.

I shook uncontrollably in Dean's arms. "Let me down!"

"This isn't funny. Guys! Hey! Guys?" Sam shouted as Dean began the upward climb to the main floor.

My heart dropped in my chest and I gave up struggling.

 _Maybe they were right. Maybe it's for the best..._


	3. When the Levee Breaks

A breeze swept through the room, so I pulled the grey blanket tighter around me. I was sitting on the couch. Dean was a wreck himself too, so it wasn't like he was much support.

Bobby was getting calls nonstop on his many phones.

"Stop! Stop!" Sam's cries sounded from the panic room.

I shuddered at the sound. _He could be dying for all we know. I can't believe Dean. No matter how much of a douche I thought he was before this, nothing compares. His own brother could be dying down there and Dean is doing absolutely nothing to help him._

Dean stood up as if he were to go down to the panic room again, but stopped himself midway across the room. His hands were gripped into fists.

"How long is this gonna go on?" Dean muttered impatiently.

"Here, let me look it up in my demon-detox manual. Oh wait. No one ever wrote one. No telling how long it'll take. Hell, or if Sam will even live through it," Bobby responded with no sympathy in his voice.

I stood up and let the blanket slide off my shoulders. I could feel the anger building in me again.

"Sit your sorry ass back down. I could easily go and dump you back to where you came from," Bobby said gruffly.

"I can't let Sam die down there. At least let me be with him. You know, to comfort him."

Dean stared distantly off at a wall, shaking his head. "We can't. He might hurt you."

I slowly walked in front of Dean. Tears were welling up in his hurting eyes.

"Dean, please."

He opened his mouth to say something, but instead he closed it and turned to Bobby. His phone was ringing again.

Bobby looked down at his brick of a cell phone and groaned.

Bobby picked it up and said with an angry tone, "I'm busy, you son of a bitch. This better be important."

Bobby was distracted by the sudden phone call, so I took this opportunity to try and make a run for it. I needed to at least see Sam and make sure everything was okay.

My feet carried me only a few steps before I was shoved back.

"Let me go, Dean," I huffed out, refusing to look up at him.

"What the hell did you do with Cas?" Dean leaned down so that he was level with me. There was worry in his eyes.

"I don't know… He was looking out the window last I saw."

"Dammit Cas." Dean stood back to full height.

Bobby had hung up the phone and looked at us with frustration.

"Let her go down and see Sammy. I don't want her to hear this mess." His voice sounded off like there was something bad going on.

"Are you sure?" Dean said skeptically.

"It's the seals," Bobby whispered.

If it were any other situation, I would be complaining about not hearing the news, but after having just lost one of my brother, I'm not going to loose another.

"Be careful." Dean stepped aside and I bolted down the stairs before he could change his mind.

The stairs creaked with each step that I took. I noticed now that there was spider webs coating the ceiling. I shivered and forced myself down the rest of the stairs.

"You're disappointed. You never thought I'd turn out this way. I'm a piss-poor excuse for a son. Your heart is broken. Am I close?" Sam's voice echoed off the walls as I got closer to the panic room.

 _Who's he talking to?_

"Sam?" I said while slowly crossing the remaining distance to the panic room.

"But—but Dean—"

My heart thumped in my chest. _Is someone in there with him?_

I quickly reached the door to find Sam sitting alone on the floor. I willed myself to remain silent. For all I know someone invisible could be in there with him.

"For revenge?"

I couldn't deny it now. Sam could be well on his way to being insane.

"What's in me, Mom, it's—"

 _Mom? Wasn't Sam's mom dead?_

"Sam!" I shouted. He didn't even seem to notice.

"What if it's stronger than me? Look at me. What if Dean's right?" Sam's voice was filled with worry.

"Sam!" I yelled yet again.

"Even if it kills me."

 _Kills him?_ Worried about what Sam was going to do, I banged my fist against the small glass window and shouted his name again.

He slowly turned his head to look at me. "Shawna?" Sorrow filled his face.

I nodded my head 'yes' and tried the door. Just like I thought, they locked it.

"What are you doing here? I don't want you to see this."

"See what? I'm scared, Sam. What's even going on? Don't die on me please," I spurred out like a bullet.

"Listen to me. I need you to calm down and stay with Dean. He'll protect you."

"I don't care what happens to me. I don't want anything to happen to you l-like what happened to Adam." I let a tear slide down my tired face.

Sam stood up and walked to the window. "You've known me what, uh, four days? You'll be okay. You don't even know me that we-"

"Shut up. SHUT UP!" I turned around and slid down the door until I was sitting.

"I know loss… I do. When I lost dad… it was hard, but I made it through and you will too. You have Dean."

"He's a dick," I muttered.

Sam let out a little laugh before he began to speak again. "How old are you again?"

"Does it even matter? You'll just say I'm too young and won't tell me anything. Just like Dean." It was awfully cold and I couldn't help but shiver.

He let out a sigh. "Do you think you could get me out of here? I could explain everything once I get out."

A flicker of hope spread through me before the sudden realization hit that I had absolutely no clue how to open the large, metal door. "I can't." I slid down the cold floor once again and shivered.

"Go to Dean and just relax, okay? Everything will be fine."

I slowly blinked my eyes and yawned. I wasn't going to leave and considering Sam was locked up in that cage, he couldn't make me.

I tried to stay awake for as long as I could, but even despite the frostbiting temperature of the basement, I couldn't stay awake the whole night.

I pulled my knees to my chest and fell asleep.

"Bobby! Dean! Shawna! Help! Hey! Hey! Guys! Guys! Help! Dean!" The shouts grew louder the longer I let them go on.

I sat up to a start. Light managed to sneak its' way through a boarded up window. A blanket slid off my shoulders. _Apparently Dean wasn't a jerk all the time._

After adjusting my eyes to the dim light, I stood up to find the door still locked and the window was closed. I carefully slid up a panel. It struggled to come up, but eventually I got it.

"Sammy?" I yawned out.

Silence was the response. I kicked the blanket away from me and looked in on Sam. He was on the floor shaking uncontrollably.

My fist slammed into the small window. _Maybe if I could break the glass?_ I had assumed that Dean wouldn't be much help, so I didn't bother to come to home.

With each slam, my hand grew more and more tired. "Dang it!" I kicked the door with my foot and screamed. _Frick. What type of metal did Bobby use?!_

My foot ached with pain. However, there was not even a mark where I had kicked.

"Dean! Bobby!" I shrieked. Maybe they could get a hold of themselves and actually freaking help Sam.

"Dea-" I started again, but stopped as soon as I heard feet pounding down the stairs.

Dean made it down first. He slid right past me and to the window where Sam was still shaking. Bobby soon followed, his cap crooked on his head.

"What if he's faking?" Dean asked.

"You really think he would?" Bobby replied.

"I think he'd do anything." Dean's voice was gruff yet filled with worry.

Being careful not to interrupt them, I slid over and grabbed the blanket. It was gray and had a few holes, but it was warm enough for me.

"He's not fakin'," I finally piped in.

My comment was ignored. Bobby slowly stepped closer to the door.

"That ain't faking," Bobby raised his voice to be heard over a loud noise.

The two men ran towards the door and quickly got into it. I should've been paying more attention, but I had an idea pop into my head: _Castiel. He's an angel. Maybe he could do something._

Dean barged into the room and immediately went for Sam. He was slumped against the wall, still shaking.

Bobby ran after them and helped lift Sam up. Sam had finally stopped shaking, but he seemed out of it.

"We're gonna have to tie him down for his own safety. Dean? You with me? Dean! Before he has another fit!"

Dean nodded his head before muttering, "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get it over with."

They threw Sam's limp body onto the table and carefully tied him down.

"Shawna, go get a damp towel," Dean said, still tying the knots.

I nodded my head even though I know he couldn't see and raced up the stairs. Upstairs was a mess with books coating the floors.

My feet carefully slid into the empty spots between books. I was forced to hop around the room a little bit before I reached the kitchen.

My eyes immediately spotted a rag by the sink. I grabbed it and soaked it in water.

I let it dangle off my arm as I ran to the fridge to grab a couple beers. I figured that Bobby and Dean might need one.

Not caring for the books, I ran over them and down the stairs. Sam's breath seemed to be back to normal. Bobby and Dean were in a corner of the room talking.

I looked at the ground as I approached them. Only then did I notice the shadow of a circle with a star in it. My eyes shifted upwards to find some sort of large fan that portrayed that shadow.

"Dean… what's this?" I said, still looking up at it.

"The symbol keeps out demons," he grabbed the beers out of my arms without looking at me. "You didn't get one for yourself?"

"Nah. I don't drink."

I went over to Sam and sat on the cot with him.

"And she calls herself a Winchester," Dean chuckled out.

Ignoring the comment, I laid the rag over Sam's forehead. His eyes were flickering under the closed eyelids. It seemed as if he were dreaming.

"Come on, Shawna." Dean slid his hand onto my shoulder.

I looked up at him. "Will he be okay?"

"I don't know. I really don't."

Bobby was walking out of the room.

"It's not safe. Come on."

He lightly pushed my shoulder as if to get me to move. I slowly stood up and took one last look at Sam.

We walked up the stairs in silence.

"Dean, you've got to call on your little angel now. He has to be able to do something." All signs of emotion were out of Bobby's voice.

I went over to th- _my_ couch and sat down on it.

"I already told you. I can't do that."

"And why not? You signed up to be his bitch and he can't even help you with this one thing?"

"It's not like that Bobby."

I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my cold shoulders. "I could talk to Cas," I suggested.

"No," they said at exactly the same time.

"Why not?"

"You think Castiel is going to listen to you?" Dean coughed out.

I shrugged. "No harm in trying."

"Hey Cas," Dean began in a mocking voice. "I'm Dean's kid sister and I want you to save my brother that I didn't even-"

My face grew redder with each new word that spewed out of his mouth. _How could he say this? We're family. We're blood.._

In my anger, I hadn't noticed the sudden silence, My eyes shifted upwards and straight onto Cas.

"Did you need something?" he asked, Dean was nowhere to be seen.

Everything was white all around us. I could hear a river in the distance, but that was the only other noise besides our voices.

"Where am I?" I asked, my mouth remaining agape even after my voice stopped.

"It's a dream. I didn't want Dean to overhear us talking." No emotion was in his voice.

"Listen, I know that I'm just a girl who only recently found out that-"

"There have been plans made for you, so no need to explain a lot. Is this about Sam?"

I nodded my head 'yes'.

"I will let Sam out, but you need to take care of Dean."

"How?" Cas' face grew blurry as he backed away from me.

"How?" I repeated again, my voice echoing as I slid back into reality.

"Shawna! Shawna!" I woke up to a violent shaking. Dean's face was inches from mine.

It took a few seconds before my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Urgh," I uttered out.

"You need sleep. You can't keep watch on Sam all the time."

"I'm fine," I said while gently pushing Dean away from me.

 _What had Cas meant? Dean is like six inches taller than me, give or take a few, and he beats me in all physical elements._

"Go get some sleep." Dean stepped farther away from me.

"You okay? You don't look so hot," Bobby's voice spoke as if from nowhere. He stood at his desk, a book in hand.

At that comment, an idea popped into my head.

My body slouched further into the couch and I groaned. "Dean, I don't feel well."

"Suck it up."

"I really don't feel well," I complained even more.

"Bobby, is she dying?"

"URGH!" I moaned out. My hand slid up to cover my forehead. _Fake it 'till you break it I guess._

"I don't know. Give her a beer?" Bobby looked utterly clueless.

"Adam would always take me to the doctor." I realized my voice sounded too normal there, so I screamed and wrapped my arms around my stomach. "Dean, please!"

Dean looked for help from Bobby.

"I don't know, boy. Take her to the doctor!" He used his hands in a shoving motion as if to urge us out the door.

"But-"

"I got the fort covered."

Dean groaned and looked at me. "Come on."

I stood up, still holding my stomach.

He ran to the front door and held it open for me. "We need to hurry."

I picked up my pace after Dean.

 _Come on, Castiel. Please._

After only twenty minutes in the car, there was a ringing on Dean's cell.

He picked it up and slid to a stop at the side of the road.

"Bobby, what's going on?"

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to text Sam.

My hands shook as I typed.

 **Please be safe.**

"Shit, Bobby." Dean threw his phone on the seat next to him and swung the impala around.

"What's wrong?"

"Sam. He's gone and if I find out that you had anything to do with this, I will kill you."

I swallowed down my fear as the impala sped back down the road.

We made it back to Bobby's place in about half the time it took us to drive out.

Dean threw his door open and ran to the panic room. I ran after, worried for my life.

"How the hell did he get out?" was the first word uttered out of Dean's mouth as we reached the empty panic room.

"Maybe he had help. Room full of busted devil's traps." Bobby's arms were crossed over his chest. He had a small bump on his head.

"Demons? Ruby."

"That'd be my guess."

"Ruby? Who's Ruby?" I asked, genuinely worried yet intrigued.

"A demon bitch who got Sam caught up into this whole mess," Dean said, his hand at a gun resting in his pant leg. "How did she even touch the door?"

"You think she's got the mojo?" Bobby asked.

"I didn't think so. I don't know, man."

"What difference does it make? How he got gone ain't as important as where he got gone to."

"Well, I'll tell you one thing. At this point I hope he's with Ruby."

My heart beat raced in my chest. _I'm the one that made Cas take Sam out… If Sam gets hurt, it's on me._

"Why?" Bobby asked, confusion spread across his round face.

"'Cause killing her's the next big item on my to-do list."

I slowly inched backwards out of the room. _If Dean is to find out that I did this, I'm dead meat._

Bobby said something else, but I didn't hear it. I was already on my way up the stairs when Dean began following after me.

"Going somewhere?"

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"You've been strange all day. Turn around and look me in the eyes."

I slowly turned around to face him. A small blade was in his hand. "Dean please. Kill me. Do whatever you need to…" I swallowed. "But I can find out where Sam is."

Dean stepped closer to me without putting the knife down. He took one last look into my eyes before dropping the knife.

"Find out. Now."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hurriedly dialed Sam's number. His voice sounded quiet as he spoke.

"Are you okay? Where are you?" his small voice barely made it through the phone.

"I'm fine. Sam… Can I come to you? I'm scared," I said with the most convincing voice I could muster.

"How? I can't drive you and Dean can't come over here."

"I have a permit."

"I'll send you my address. Be careful."

"You too." I quickly hung up the phone.

Dean snatched it out of my hand as the message arrived. "Stay with Bobby," his voice was gruff, but softer than it had been all day. He slid his arm around me into a hug.

I wrapped my arms around him, "Please bring him back safe."

"I will." He slowly released his grip on me and walked the rest of the way up the stairs.

My feet trudged the rest of the way up the stairs. "I'm sorry," I whispered to the air. "I really am sorry."


	4. Sympathy for the Devil

**Chapter 4**

"Bobby! Where are they?" I screamed, yet again, out of frustration.

 _It's been two days since we last heard from them. They could be dead for all we know._

"WIll you quit asking? Call them if you're really so worried." Bobby grunted from the kitchen. He was sitting at the table with a beer in his hand, staring at a blank wall in front of him.

"Are you okay, Bobby?" I whispered while stepping into the kitchen.

"I'm fine. Go find the boys."

"Bobby…" I bit my lip and shifted my view to the ground. He still hasn't told me what happened that night, but he sure does have a nasty bruise to show for it. "More ice maybe?" I've only known him a week, but he's the closest thing I have to family left. Sam and Dean ditch me at every opportunity they get while mom and Adam are just dead. Killed by those dang monsters or ghouls or whatever.

"Go find the boys," he said again, not looking at me.

I ran to the wall to use Bobby's phones to try and call the boys again. Dean still had my phone, so this was the best I had.

My hands shook as I dialed in the first of many numbers. It rang three times before reaching the voicemail that I'd know heard over a thousand times: "This is Dean's other other cell-" I hung up before it could finish.

I looked up at the twenty other numbers I had to call. All of them were at one point Sam and Dean's phone numbers, but Bobby can hardly keep track of all the new numbers anymore.

My fingers slowly typed in the next number. A voice began to speak right away.

"Who is this?" the voice sounded unfamiliar to me.

"Um… sorry. Wrong number." I slammed the phone against the wall with a loud thud.

 _I'll try one more number then I'm going to pray to Castiel again,_ I told myself quietly.

I dialed the next number, making sure to double check every last digit before I hit call.

It rang once before a familiar voice picked up.

"Bobby…?" the voice sounded a little skeptical.

"Sam?"

"Shawna? What are you doing? Where are you?" his voice was scared and hushed.

"I'm at Bobby's. Where are you? We'll come get you guys home." my voice shook at the word home. I surely didn't have one, but they've been on the road so long… do they have a home?

"No. Stay there. We don't know what's going on yet."

"Sam please. Please don't shut me out. I've lost most of my family and I thought I lost you and Dean. So please. I won't be a hassle at all."

"Fine, but you need to warn Dean that you're coming. We're at a motel. I'll text you the address. Have Bobby take you and be safe."

"Wait! Dean has my phone, so just tell me now."

He gave me the address and reminded me once more to tell Dean that I was coming. _Yeah right,_ l laughed. _He wouldn't even let me have a choice if he could get the chance.._

I turned around to tell Bobby the good news, but he was sound asleep. _I can't wake him up now… I'll call him once I get there._

I slowly moved his hand to the side and grabbed the car keys. Bobby didn't even flinch. My feet carried me out the door as I raced into his junkyard.

"Shuck Bobby… which car is it?" I reached for the fob and clicked a button. An alarm began to blare. "Ugh! Shut up! Shut up!" I clicked the button once more to stop then ran to the car.

This one was beat up and rusty, but I assumed it could drive. I hopped in the driver's seat and pushed in the key.

"I have a permit. I can do this," I tried to reaffirm myself. _Plus I can't be half as bad as Bobby when he drives._

I slowly turned the car on and released the parking brake. The car quickly slid forward into the one in front. "Sorry," I muttered as I put the car in reverse and started my journey.

Five hours and three candy bars later, I made it to the motel. It was small and worn down, but of course, that's what they would want right? I mean they use a freaking impala for goodness sake.

I parked the car and ran out. No one was around nearby, so I went straight in and to the boys' room.

Looking into the glossy door handle, I patted down my messy hair and raised my hand to knock. The door flung right open instead. Dean held a gun at my face.

I swallowed down my fear and looked him in the eye.

"Sammy!" his deep voice yelled. Dean slid the gun into his pocket and grabbed me by the wrist to pull me into the room.

"I-i'm sorry! I was worried!" I stuttered out before all the blame could be put onto Sam. "I convinced Sam to let me come."

Sam's foots lightly thudded across the room as he walked over to me. Dean let go of my hand and Sam pulled me close for a hug.

"I told you to warn Dean **and** bring Bobby," he whispered into my ear.

"I know. I'm sorry," I whispered back.

We pulled apart to face Dean, but instead of his face had changed to a kinder look and he too hugged me.

"So what happened with this Ruby chick?" I asked while hopping onto the bed.

"Hey. That's m-"

Sam cut off Dean with a grunt.

I eyed them both, waiting for a response.

"You're too you-"

Yet again, Dean was interrupted, but this time it was by me. "Who freed Sam?" I crossed my arms over my chest with a huff.

"She's the one who let me out? But there was no one there…"

"Cas helped some…"

The television was on in the background and an urgent weather alert came on. It blared out, "How would you then explain an earthquake, a hurricane, and multiple tornadoes, all the same time, all around the globe."

Hearing these, I looked to the tv. Pictures of the catastrophes were flying across the screen.

Dean looked at the screen with anger as Sam distracted himself with his dad- our dad's old journal. They acted as if I hadn't even asked them what I had.

"Two words. Carbon emissions," a new voice said in response to the previous statement.

"Yeah right, wavy gravy," Dean grunted while turning off the tv. Dean turned to look at me. "Get some sleep. You look exhausted. Hell, do you even have your license?"

"No," I yawned as I leaned back onto the bed.

My nap was interrupted five minutes later by a knock on the door. I began to sit up, but Dean held me back and put a finger to his lips. He slowly pulled out a small gun as Sam slowly opened the door.

A blonde haired lady who was smiling stood at the door. Dean quickly put the gun behind his back.

"You okay, lady?" Sam questioned.

I sat up all the way in the bed. _She looks like some creepy fangirl who has no life._

"Sam… is it really you?" she looked up at Sam in awe.

I quickly looked to Dean for an explanation, but his face showed no emotion.

The girl stepped closer to Sam and put her hand on his chest. "And you're so firm…" she said dreamily.

Sam flinched at her touch and Dean gripped his gun tighter.. "Uh… do I know you?"

I slowly stood up, the girl took no note of me.

She took a step back from Sam before answering. "No. But i know you. You're Sam Winchester. And you're-"

Dean slid the gun into his pocket, he seemed more relaxed now.

"-not what I pictured. I'm Becky."

 _Not what she pictured?! How does she even know them?_

She pushed Sam to the side and walked into the room. "I've read all about you guys. And I've even wri-" Her eyes suddenly registered my presence and she gasped. "Sam?! Are you seeing someone?" Becky slowly approached me, so I took a step away from her.

"Um… uh…" I was at a loss for words.

"Uh no. She's my sister."

"Why wasn't she in the books then?" Becky quickened her pace to me and before I even knew it, she was right in my face.

Still shocked, I remained silent. She reached forward and put a hand on my face.

"Um…" I leaned away from her, but it was too late. She pinched at my cheeks like an old grandma would've done to their grandkid.

Unsure of what else to do, I slapped away her hand.

"Oooh," she giggled. "A little angry like Mr. Dean over here." Her voice rose higher in pitch the more she spoke. "Wait, but-" she looked me over before saying, "She's in a man's shirt!"

"Okay stop this," I tried to sound as forceful as I could while saying this. I walked over to Dean, where he put his arm around me as if to comfort me. "What books are you talking about?"

"The _Supernatural_ books obviously. It tells all about the daring adventures of these two l-brothers!"

I looked up at Dean in confusion. He shook his head 'no'.

"Becky, why are you here?" Sam asked, clearly tired of her crap.

"Mr. Edlund told me where you were."

Dean took a step towards Becky and loosened his grip around me.

"Mr. Edlund?" I questioned. Sam looked at me in response. His eyes said all I needed to know and that was, as always, nothing.

"Chuck?" Dean's voice sounded worried yet relieved at the same time.

"He's got a message, but he's being watched. Angels. Nice change-up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old.."

My eyebrows raised at her statement. _How does she know more about this than I do? I mean last I checked, Sam and Dean didn't even know her until just a few minutes ago._

"Right. Just, um...what's the message?" Sam looked annoyed by now.

"He had a vision." She closed her eyes and recited a message: "The Michael sword is on earth. The angels lost it."

"The Michael sword?" Dean said, suddenly full of energy.

"What's the Michael sword? I'm so confused."

Without answering my question, Sam responded to her. "Becky, does he know where it is?"

"In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs," she grinned.

I rolled my eyes. _Does she think this is some sort of game? I've only been here a week and I already know how serious this stuff is._

"Forty-two dogs?" Dean looked slightly startled.

Sam, being even more confused than Dean, popped the next question, "Are...you sure you got that right?"

"It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said." The girl stepped closer to Sam and stared directly into his eyes. "I memorized every word." She slowly lifted her small hand onto his chest and breathed out the last words slowly, "For you."

"Um, Becky, c—uh, can you...quit touching me?" Sam said uncomfortably.

"No."

"Okay. Out. **Now**." Dean grabbed her by the arm and shoved her out the door.

"We could ask Cas for help?" I suggested.

Dean shook his head 'no'. "The archangel… I'm not sure that Cas made it out alive."

I bit my lip and sat down on the bed.

"Maybe we're looking at it wrong? Let's call Bobby and see if he has any idea," Sam suggested.

"No!" I shouted out of instinct. I could feel my face reddening as both of their eyes turned to look at me. "Ca- He- F- I sort of left without telling him. He was just so tired and he'd been hurting."

Sam looked at the ground.

"It's not your fault, Sam." Dean rested his hand on Sam's sulking shoulder.

"If I had actually listened to you guys…"

"Sam stop. It's not your fault."

"Get some rest. Maybe you'll feel better tomorrow," I suggested before realizing the obvious problem - there were only two beds in the room.

Dean looked around the room, the sinking realization coming to him too. "Uh… you two get some sleep. I'll keep my eyes on the news."

Sam looked worriedly at Dean, his eyes filled with tears.

I yawned and plopped onto Dean's bed. Sam slowly walked over to his, messing with his hands.

I fell asleep in no time and didn't even hear when Bobby called.

Muffled sounds pattered around the room and hushed voices filled the room, but I refused to fully wake up; I was in the middle of a great dream where the Winchesters weren't there, but Adam was.

I tossed over in my sleep, hoping to block out the noise.

In my dream, I was reaching out to grab Adam's hand as he faded into the distance.

"Adam! Come back! Don't leave me again!" I shouted.

I felt something on my shoulder and heard my name being called.

I snapped out of my dream. "D-dean. Don't do that again."

"You're burning up. Are you okay?" he put his hand to my forward like what my mother used to do.

"I'm fine," I said while brushing away his hand. I sat up and looked around the room. Bobby was here now and Sam looked upset about something.

"I need to talk to Dean," Bobby grunted out. "Alone."

I remained silent and looked at Sam. He nodded his head like he understood. "Come on. Let's go get you something nicer to wear." He quickly walked to the door and held it open for me.

I stood up and followed him. We made it outside in no time. The air was chilly, but I didn't mind too much. I actually was feeling pretty warm inside.

"Was it a dream?" Sam asked.

Only his outline was visible in the dark I nodded my head 'yes' and watched as my shadow moved in the distance.

"About what?"

I shook my head 'no'. I didn't want to tell him. He fights demons and monsters pretty much everyday of his life, so any of my nightmares would be like nothing to him.

At my silence, he stopped walking. "You can trust me."

"Sam, what's going on with you? Dean and Bobby seem so upset…"

"I got tricked into helping a demon. Don't worry about it though. Dean and I'll figure it out," he said it so fast that there was no room for emotion to sweep into his voice.

"How do you kill 'em? The demons. I want to help."

"No. You stay out of this.."

"You're the one who wanted **me** to come with you guys! At least let me help!"

"Fine. We have a blade and a gun that can kill demons, that's about it. Here, take this."

I could barely make out his hands in the darkness as he held something out for me. I slowly grabbed it out of his hands. It was cold and metal; a knife.

"It was dad's, so don't loose it."

I slid it into my pocket and looked up at Sam. "Thank you."

We walked in silence for about five minutes before the sound of a car engine roared to life in the distance.

"Does anyone live out this far…?" I questioned. We were too far from the motel for it to be any of us…

"Let's go behind here to be safe." Sam grabbed me by the hand and dragged me behind a tree that was off the side of the road. The car sped by as if we weren't even there.

"Probably just a drunk driver?"

"Dean," his voice filled the air as he began to run. "Keep up," he called at me.

"Sam! What's going on?!" I shouted up ahead to him. I was nowhere near as fast as him, so I trailed along behind him.

"I think there eyes were black! Can't quite tell in this darkness though." He picked up the pace as he rounded into the motel parking lot. Sure enough, the car was sitting there idle.

Sam stopped and I ran right into him. "S...orr...y" I said, out of breath from the run.

"Take out your knife just to be safe."

I slowly slid it out of my pocket and flipped it open. Sam approached the door slowly at first, but something caught his eye.

The door flew open as Sam ran in and I followed right on his trail. "No!" Sam screamed.

I stepped to the side of Sam and saw it. Bobby on the floor in a pool of blood and Dean on the floor next to him with a man on top of him.

"Bobby!" As much as I wanted to run forward to help them, my legs were like jello. I couldn't move.

Dean grunted as he was hit once after another. My eyes shifted up to meet the eyes of a strange girl. Her eyes were black and she had a snarky grin on her face.

"Heya, Sammy. You miss me? 'Cause I sure missed you." The girl seemed comfortable, even happy, despite what was going on around her.

"Meg?" Sam spoke so low that I could barely hear. He raised his fist and swung at the girl. She easily avoided the attack and retailed with one of her own, a kick to the balls.

Realizing that this was my chance, I willed myself to move and leapt onto the man who was attacking Dean. My knife quickly slid out of my hand, but the man was now against the wall. He, too, had black eyes.

It only took him a few seconds before he adjusted to the situation. He threw a punch to my jaw and I screamed.

I looked for my knife, but it was lying too far away, so I did the only thing I could think of; I bit him. The last time I tried to punch someone was Adam's ex-girlfriend and that didn't go too well for me…

My teeth dug into his shoulder and I was flopped to the side. Luckily, I hadn't broken the skin because he tasted nasty as hell.

My jaw ached, but as I rolled to get away from the man, I bumped into Bobby. A knife stuck out of Bobby's stomach. I grabbed it and it slid it across the floor.

Dean quickly grabbed it and stabbed the man. Orange light shot out of his eyes and around his body. I covered my head, afraid that he might explode.

"Shawna, it's okay." I felt a hand on my back and flinched.

When I uncovered my head, Sam was kneeling down next to me.

"Sammy! A little help over here!" Dean was to the side, attempting to lift up Bobby's limp body.

"I could call an ambulance?" I suggested, my breath quickening as I spoke.

"No. Go start up the impala." Dean attempted to toss me the keys, but they fell short of my outstretched hands.

I quickly knelt to pick up the wad of keys and ran out the door.

"Impala, Impala, Impala," I muttered while searching for the correct key. It only took three tries before I successfully unlocked the Impala.

"Open up the back door!" I heard Dean shout as he and Sam began making their way to the Impala.

I quickly flung open the back door as they carefully shoved him inside.

I ran to the passenger door and opened, but no sooner had I done that than when Sam walked up behind me, shaking his head. "Mine. You get the backseat."

"But there's literally a bloodied guy back there! And plus my whole face hurts," I complained, hoping that he'd give me some sympathy.

"Nope. Go back there."

I groaned and slid into the backseat with Bobby. His feet rested on my lap.

"Can I have an ice pack?"

"No," they said simultaneously.

"Water?"

"No."

"A blanket?"

"No."

"But I got punched in the face."

"Tough luck sweetie. Get over it," Dean grumbled, staring ahead at the road while he drove. Sam remained silent.

"Tough luck that I'm there friggin' sister," I mumbled while leaning against the window.

After three minutes of silence, Sam finally spoke up.

"You're going to have to learn to deal with the pain. We deal with it all the time."

I groaned and looked out the window. We were passing my empty stretches of forests.

"Dean, where are we?"

"Almost there," he muttered.

Sure enough, the big building sat just across the road in a large, populated section of town. Dean idled the car in front of the doorway and, with Sam's help, began carrying Bobby into the hospital.

I ran in ahead of them. "Help! Help!" I screamed. Even with the little amount that I knew about Bobby, I knew he was worth saving.

A nurse ran over to me and I pointed back towards Dean and Sam who were struggling to carry Bobby's unconscious body into the waiting room.

"Gurney please!" a nurse screamed while running at them.

My heart pounded even faster in my chest as each new nurse came running to Bobby's aide.

"What happened?" one of them said while trying to remain calm.

I was about to answer when Sam spoke first. "He was stabbed."

"Can we get a gurney?" another nurse said yet again.

Two nurses came over to us, sliding a gurney along in front of them. Sam and Dean carefully laid Bobby onto the gurney.

"Hang on, Bobby. Hang in there. You're gonna be okay.," Dean said in a hushed voice as if Bobby could actually hear him.

"Wait here," a nurse told us as Bobby was rushed through a set of white, double doors.

Sam stopped the nurse before she ran off. "We can't just leave him."

"Just don't move. I've got questions." She walked off before Sam could say anything more.

"Sammy, we gotta go. The demons heard where the sword is. We got to get to it before they do, if we're not too late already."

"No. No way, Dean. I'm not leaving him."

"I'll stay with Bobby you guys go. I've got the knife. I'll be fine," I piped in, trying to ease this stressful situation.

"Be safe." Sam quickly hugged me before running after Dean.

I slumped against the wall. "Come on, Bobby."

There was no news for a half an hour and in that time, I had managed to fall asleep. I was woken up by the nurse who had wanted to question Sam.

"Hey. Wake up." She tapped lightly on my shoulder and I pushed her hand away. "Wake up!" she raised her voice.

"Urgh," I spit out as I sat up and looked at her. "Oh. It's you." I blew a piece of my brown hair off my face while staring at her directly in the eyes.

"We have some cops here. They want to talk to you."

"N-no. I c-can't," I stuttered out.

"We understand your stressed and-" she gasped as I slid my hair part over to the other side. "Your cheek! Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine. Just let me see him." I tried to stand, but she pushed me back down.

"Is he your grandpa or something?"

"Ya. Sure. Now let me see him," I yawned out the last word and tried to stand once again; this time she let me.

"Was it the men who hurt you?" she grabbed my hand before I could fully walk away.

"What room is he in?"

"Was it the men?"

"What room?!" I nearly shouted at her.

"He's on the second floor, third room. Before you go, was it the men."

"No. It wasn't my brothers. There was this weird, dark eyed chick and a man."

She loosened the grip on my wrist and I ran to the elevator. I slid in with everyone else.

An old lady was in a wheelchair next to me, breathing tubes ran down her face.

"Seeing your grandpa today, deary?" she asked with a smile.

"Ya- uh sorta. Bye." I ran out as soon as the doors began to part. I couldn't stand dealing with her. Not now. Not with Bobby's life on the line. My feet carried me to his room and I quickly entered.

He sat up on his bed, staring off into the distance.

"Bobby," I said as I slowly approached his bed.

He jumped a little and looked at me. "Oh. Little one." He patted my head, clearly out of it from whatever drugs they gave him.

"You doing okay, Bobby?"

"I'm doing hella fine. Now get me out of here."

"No. Not until Sam and Dean get back."

"Where are those idjits anyways?"

"Doesn't matter. Get some sleep. I could really use some too."

Bobby mumbled something like "hell no" under his breath as I sat in a chair, preparing to sleep.

"G'night Bobby."

"'Night dork."

""Unlikely to walk again"?! Why, you snot-nosed son of a bitch! Wait till I get out of this bed!" I woke up to Bobby's screams. Sam and Dean sat across the room from me. They looked worried.

I'll use my game leg and kick your friggin' ass! Yeah, you better run!

The doctor was nowhere in sight.

I yawned. "Good morning…"

"It's not morning," Dean replied gruffly.

"You believe that yahoo 'bout my legs?" Bobby grunted at the boys.

"Screw him. You'll be fine."

"I don't think so… I mean when has a doctor ever been wrong…?" I contradicted.

"Enough with that. Let me ask the million-dollar question. What do we do now?" Sam piped in before the argument could pursue any farther.

"Well... We save as many as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It's bad. Whoever wins, heaven or hell, we're boned," Bobby said, feeling a little more comfortable about the current situation.

"What if we win?" Dean added in.

"What do you mean? If we win, we can go live a normal life," confusion was evident in my voice and it clearly was in everyone else's too as everyone in the room turned to look at Dean.

"Get out of the room, Shawna," Dean looked at me intently.

"No!"

"Now! Go to the impala. It's unlocked."

"NO!"

"I'm not asking!"

"Stop bossing me around!" I screamed as I thundered out of the room.

On the elevator ride down, I didn't talk or even look at anyone.

The same nurse was on the bottom floor, so I ran past her and straight to the impala. I let some tears flow down my cheeks once I got in.

 _They take everything from me. My family. My friends. My freedom and they expect me to still love them as brothers?!_

I buried my face into the leather seats of the impala and cried until my eyes couldn't take it anymore.


	5. Good God Y'all

I trudged in through the front door of the hospital wearing my new "hunting" gear. It consisted of skin tight black jeans, a thin tank top, and a black leather coat to top it all off.

In my hand was a bag full of my usual clothes; a few t-shirts and jeans that I bought at a thrift store.

As I walked to the elevator, my mind was preparing me for whatever long speech Dean was going to give me about running out. Honestly though, we've been in this hospital for three days. I've been getting insanely bored around here.

I stepped into the elevator (which was luckily empty today) and clicked the button to go up.

"What are you wearing?" a voice said out of nowhere.

I screamed and immediately looked in the direction of the voice. Castiel was standing beside me with his long trench coat.

"Cas! What in tarnations are you doing here? H-how'd you even get in here with me?"

"Um…" he looked at me with a look of annoyance and confusion on his face. "I'm an angel."

"No shuck Sherlock," I muttered.

"Where's Dean?"

"With Bobby which… is right… here!" I timed it perfectly as the elevator arrived on our floor.

"Good. Come on." He grabbed the sleeve of my coat and began pulling me along.

"Cas," I said in a hushed voice. "I can walk on my own."

He ignored my comment while dodging between nurses.

We made it in no time to Bobby's room where we found Sam and Dean standing outside of it.

"What in the hell are you wearing?" Dean commented as Cas let go of my sleeve.

"Hunting clothes. I thought I should try to fit in more."

"No. You've got to change out of that."

"Okay…" I wasn't going to argue. These clothes weren't the most comfortable anyways.

"And a cell phone, Cas? Really? Since when do angels need to reach out and touch someone?"

"You're hidden from angels now—all angels. I won't be able to simply—"

"Enough foreplay," Bobby shouted. We all looked at Bobby and I had to stifle a laugh. _Foreplay? Are Dean and Cas like- a thing?_

"Get over here and lay your damn hands on."

I looked up at Cas and bit my lip.

"Get healing. Now."

"I can't" was his reply.

Bobby slowly turned his wheelchair to face us. "Say again?"

"I'm cut off from heaven and much of heaven's power. Certain things I can do. Certain things I can't." He began to walk towards Bobby. I reached out my hand as if to stop him, but Sam lightly pushed it down.

"You're telling me you lost your mojo just in time to get me stuck in this trap the rest of my life?"

"I'm sorry."

"Shove it up your ass."

"Bobby…" my voice was filled with sadness as I tried to speak. However, I was ignored and Bobby went back to staring out the window once again.

"At least he's talking now," Dean said, trying to stay positive.

"I heard that."

Cas walked back over to us. With a newfound urgency in his voice, he changed the mood drastically. "I don't have much time. We need to talk."

"Okay," all three of us grunted in unison.

"Your plan to kill Lucifer."

I looked at the ground. I still knew nothing about this. Dean wouldn't tell me anything and he kept preventing Sam from being alone in a room with me.

"Yeah. You want to help?" Dean asked.

"No. It's foolish. It can't be done."

"Oh. Thanks for the support."

"But I believe I have the solution. There is someone besides Michael strong enough to take on Lucifer. Strong enough to stop the apocalypse."

"Who's that?" Sam's face seemed to light up at this newfound hope.

"The one who resurrected me and put you on that airplane. The one who began everything. God."

"Plane?" I mouthed at Dean, but he shook his head as if to shut me up.

Sam looked slightly uncomfortable and unsure of the current situation.

"I'm gonna find God."

"God?" Dean asked while slowly closing the door to Bobby's room.

"Yes."

"God."

"Yes! He isn't in heaven. He has to be somewhere." Castiel seemed eager to get his point across.

"Try New Mexico. I hear he's on a tortilla."

"Dean!" I quickly walked over to him and slapped his face. I wasn't the most religious person ever, but I do believe in God and I know that he is nothing to joke about.

"What the hell was that for?" He reached his hand up as if to slap me back, but he quickly decided against it.

"No, he's not on any flatbread, Dean," Castiel said with absolutely no emotion. I rolled my eyes. _Angels really don't understand anything…_

"Listen, Chuckles, even if there is a God, he is either dead—and that's the generous theory—"

"He is out there, Dean."

"—or he's up and kicking and doesn't give a rat's ass about any of us." I went to slap Dean again, but was stopped by Sam who stared at me from a distance, his head shaking as if to say 'no'.

Cas glared at Dean, the annoyance plastered across his face.

"I mean, look around you, man. The world is in the toilet. We are literally at the end of days here, and he's off somewhere drinking booze out of a coconut. All right?"

"Enough. This is not a theological issue. It's strategic. With God's help, we can win." Cas seemed confident in the way he spoke. It was as if he was fully confident in God. However, I wasn't as confident. _If God really is real, why didn't he save Adam. Why did he let Sam open the gates of Hell?_

"It's a pipe dream, Cas."

Cas looked Dean directly in the eye and took a step towards him. I stepped in the middle of them, hoping to relieve some tension.

"I killed two angels this week. My brothers. I'm hunted. I rebelled. And I did it, all of it, for you, and you failed. You and your brother destroyed the world and I lost everything, for nothing. So keep your opinions to yourself." As Cas spoke, Sam slowly lowered his head in shame. The thing is, it isn't all Sam's fault; it's partly mine. I was the one who convinced Cas to free Sam.

"You didn't drop in just to tear us a new hole. What is it you want?" Bobby surprised us all with his gruff words.

"I did come for something. An amulet."

"An amulet? What kind?"

"Very rare. Very powerful. It burns hot in God's presence. It'll help me find him."

"A God EMF?" Sam piped in.

Cas nodded slowly and drifted his attention back to Dean.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about. I got nothing like that." Bobby refused to look at us. He almost seemed to have given up on his hope.

"I know. You don't." He took a step towards Dean and carefully pushed me to the side. His eyes drifted from Dean's face down to his necklace.

"What, this?" Dean's fingers were now wrapped around it.

"May I borrow it?"

"No."

"Dean. Give it to me."

"Dean, this might be our only chance… please," I nearly begged. _Maybe God could bring Adam back too…_

Dean slowly unclasped the amulet and held it in the air. "Alright, I guess."

Cas reached for it, but Dean quickly pulled it away. "Don't lose it." As Cas grabbed it, Dean muttered, "Great. Now I feel naked."

"I'll be in touch" and with that Castiel was gone. He hadn't even stayed long enough to hear Bobby complain again about wanting the use of his legs back.

"Now you need to change." Dean looked straight at me.

I laughed and walked out of the room. This outfit was uncomfortable anyways.

In the bathroom. I quickly slipped out of my clothes and into jeans and a hoodie. My eyes drifted up to the mirror where I caught a glance of my tired face. My hair was straight yet fuzzy and pockets from a lack of sleep drooped under my eyes. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear with a sigh.

I stepped out of the bathroom to find Sam and Dean deep in conversation as they walked down the hallway.

"Hey! Sam!" I shouted and jogged to catch up with them. He glanced at me then looked right back to Dean.

"It's not safe. We should leave her here." Sam's voice sounded worried.

"You're the one who wanted to bring her along with us in the first place. Just let her come with us."

"I'm coming," I said as we rounded a corner.

"You don't even know how to shoot."

"I can punch. Dean knows that I can." I winked at him.

"Come on, just let her come. Us and Rufus will be there. She'll be fine."

Sam shook his head. "If she gets hurt, it's not my responsibility. Give her dad's journal to read in the car."

"Yes!" I jumped in the air before quieting myself down. Considering the fact that we're leaving the hotel with no patient, it probably seems confusing to people about why I'm so happy… I stuck my hands in my pockets and followed my brothers to the impala.

I slung a small bag over my shoulder as we walked toward an abandoned road. Rubbish flew all over the street and cars were on their sides in nearly every direction.

With each gust of wind, my hand gripped tighter on my small knife.

My eyes scanned the area for any sign of movement as I followed closely behind Sam and Dean.

A doll was laying in the middle of the road, but the boys took no notice as to the pool of blood it was sitting in. I gagged and looked ahead. They were in front of a gas station, but the blood seemed to increase the closer to that direction that they got. I pulled my hood up to my head and stood my ground.

As if from nowhere, I heard the click of a gun and a chill went down my spine. I spun around to face an older lady with brown hair. Her brow was furrowed in frustration.

"Ellen?" Sam's voice appeared behind me closely with Dean's footsteps following him.

"Hello boys, Is this her?"

She lowered her gun as if on cue and looked me in the eyes. She said nothing, but kept her gaze on me.

"Ellen, what the heck's going on here?" Dean seemed annoyed and confused, but he didn't make any sudden movements.

Ellen pulled a bottle from her pocket and twisted off the cap in one swift movement. Water sprayed us all as she stood there, her hand still resting on her gun.

"We're us."

"We need to get going." She shoved the bottle into her pocket and began to walk without even checking that we were following,

I tucked the knife into my pocket as Sam began following her. Dean lightly shoved my back so that I would follow too.

"Dean," I whispered.

"Yeah?" he asked back in a hushed voice.

"Do you think Adam is… you know watching over us… from heaven?" I needed to ask it or at least say it. It didn't feel right doing this and knowing that Adam won't be here to protect me.

He didn't say anything in response. Instead he just put his hand on my shoulder and we continued walking.

After a few more minutes in silence, we fell upon a church whose windows were sealed up.

We stepped slowly and carefully over a salt line to get into the church where a large demon trap sat in the entrance. (I'd learned about these in dad's journal).

"Real glad to see you boys."

Ellen quickly hugged Dean before smacking him across the face.

I looked at Sam to see whether this was problematic or not, but he didn't seem phased.

"The can of whoopass I ought to open on you."

"Ow," Dean muttered.

"You can't pick up a phone? What are you, allergic to giving me peace of mind? I got to find out that you're alive from Rufus? Oh and you couldn't even tell me that you had a sister? Come on what am I to you?"

"Sorry, Ellen."

"Yeah, you better be. You better put me on speed dial, kid."

"Yes, ma'am."

The lady began leading us down a flight of stairs.

"What's going on here?" I asked after curiosity got the better of me.

"More than I can handle alone."

"How many demons are there?" Sam asked, no fear evident in his voice.

"Pretty much the whole town, minus the dead people and these guys."

Ellen stopped walking at a closed door and turned to look at us. "So, this is it, right? End times?"

I looked from Sam to Dean, waiting for one of them to respond.

After no response, Ellen broke the silence, "It's got to be."

"Seems like it," Dean replied.

Ellen knocked on the door and said, "it's me."

A peephole opened up revealing an eye then the door slowly swung open. People were crowded into the small room with guns lying everywhere. The man who had opened the door was holding a rifle.

"This is Sam, Dean, and Shawna. They're hunters. Here to help."

"More like hunter in trainin…" I quickly lowered my voice, realizing that no one even cared at this moment in time.

"You guys hip to this whole demon thing?" the man with the gun questioned.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"My wife's eyes turned black. She came at me with a brick. Kind of makes you embrace the paranormal," another man said, lifting his hand every so slightly to his chin. I noticed a small ring sitting on his finger and gulped down my fear. _Sounds sort of like what happened to me…_

"All right, catch us up," Dean grunted, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I doubt I know much more than you. Rufus called. Said he was in town investigating omens. All of a sudden, the whole town was possessed. Me and Jo were nearby—" Ellen began, but at the mention of Jo, Dean interrupted her.

"You're hunting with Jo?"

"Yeah, for a while now. We got here, and the place—well, the place was like you see it. Couldn't find Rufus, then me and Jo got separated. I was out looking when I found you."

"Don't worry, we'll find her."

"Either way, these people cannot just sit here. We got to get them out now," Sam said with a firm voice.

I noticed a pregnant woman in the room, so I walked over to her.

"You okay?" I whispered, trying not to interrupt the other conversation going on.

She was shaking, but she nodded her head 'yes'.

"If you need anything, I'm here for you. I won't leave until I know everyone is safe."

At the sound of the door opening, I quickly spun around.

Sam and Dean were walking out the door.

I ran after them, but Ellen grabbed me by the arm. "Nope. You're staying here. Sam insisted on it."

"But I can help!" I tried to shake her off of me.

"No. You can't. Have you ever killed a demon?"

"Uh… No. But I'm sure it's not too hard." I kept struggling to get away.

"No. You're staying here."

"Please! Please don't separate me from my brothers! I can't lose them too!"

"Wait what happened?" Ellen asked, putting her hands on my shoulders to calm me down.

I told her what happened in detail including how my family died and how the boys decided to take me along because I was family.

"This happened within the last two weeks, correct?"

I nodded my head in agreement.

"Sam and Dean have got this handled. Just go try to relax. They'll be back soon. They're just getting guns."

I walked over to a corner and sat down by myself. Just two weeks ago, I had gone to school with everyone else and was receiving straight A's. Now I'm stuck in this mess with the only family I have left being two random strangers.

I punched the wall in frustration and buried my head in my knees. Adam raced through my brain and a tear slipped down my tired face.

I'm not sure how long it was before they came back. They set the guns down on the table and Dean immediately began teaching everyone how to use them.

Sam came over to me and put his head in his hands.

"Sam? Are you okay?"

"No, but is anyone?"

I looked at him. "What's going on? I can't do much, but I can listen."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

Not knowing what was appropriate to do in this situation, I rested my head on his arm and we sat there in an awkward silence.

I could hear his pulse and it was fast. Whatever happened out there affected him.

Dean soon walked over to us.

"Hey, Sammy."

"Hey."

I slid my head off of Sam's arm, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just...at the store. Those demons were possessing teenagers. I mean, I had to slit some kid's throat."

"Come on, Sam, you had to."

"I know. I just...it used to be like…"

Sam paused and I looked at him. He seemed frustrated and upset.

"I just wish I could save people like I used to."

"What, you mean when you were all hopped up on demon blood?"

"I didn't say that."

"You weren't on demon blood when you guys… saved me," I quietly interrupted. "You can't save everyone, Sam."

"Did we really save you? We dragged you into this whole mess and we couldn't even save your family."

I bit my lip, unsure of how to respond. On one hand, they did pull me into the hunting business, but on the other hand, those ghouls would've killed me if they hadn't come.

"I'll be back." Ellen was standing in front of us with a rifle in her hand.

"Where you going?" Dean asked, sounding annoyed.

"I can't sit here on my ass. My daughter's out there somewhere. I'm not back in half an hour, go. Get these people out of here."

We all stood up as Ellen began heading towards the door.

"No, wait. I'll go with you." Sam stopped her. I looked at him worriedly.

"Whoa, hold on. Can I talk to you for a second?" Dean's frustration filled his face.

Sam agreed and they began walking out of the room. I ran after them.

"Get out kid." Dean lightly pushed me.

"Please don't do this anymore. I'm part of the family. I need to know what's going on. Please."

Dean sighed, but quickly shrugged.

"You're gonna go out there again?"

"Well, crap doesn't hit the fan with coffee breaks."

"I'll go."

"It's fine. Just stay here, get 'em ready. I'll cover Ellen."

"Why's it gotta be you?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot. You think I'll take one look at a demon and suddenly fall off the wagon, as if, after everything, I haven't learned my lesson."

I bit my lip, considering whether I should try to intervene or not.

"Well, have you?"

Sam slammed Dean into the wall.

"Stop!" I yelled, Dean looked at me startled. "Let me go with Sam. I could keep an eye on him and learn some stuff without ripping his head off."  
Sam released his grip on Dean and began walking out of the building. I quickly grabbed a small gun before running out after him.

Ellen followed us out and began leading us towards where she last saw her daughter.

They talked about what was going on between Sam and Dean, but I tried to stay out of it. Maybe someday I'd need to help, but until they tell me everything that's going on, I can't do anything. Maybe one day I can be as close to them as what I was with Adam.

I shook my head trying to focus on what our mission was when something caught my eye: smoke, coming from a chimney.

"Look! Over there!"

"Shhhh," Sam hissed at me.

"Guess we found base camp." Ellen took a breath, getting ready for whatever we'd have to face.

"Demons don't get cold. Makes you wonder what they're burning."

Sam began walking around the corner when Ellen and I were grabbed from behind.

I screamed, but the man let go of me quickly. His eyes were black.

"Go into the house. We'll keep you safe from these demons."

Confused, I pulled my gun out and aimed it at the demon who was on Ellen.

"Don't move, you evil skank!" a girl with blonde hair had a gun pointed at Ellen.

Another demon left Ellen and went after Sam.

"Shawna don't! It's Jo!" Ellen screamed, trying to get away.

"What? What? I'm confused!" I yelled out of frustration.

Ellen began speaking to Jo, "Don't you hurt her, don't you—"

I walked to the side of Jo to look at her eyes. They were normal.

"Give me my mom back, you black-eyed bitch!" Jo's face was filled with frustration.

I looked back at Sam to see if he was okay, but his eyes were black.

I shrieked. "What's going on?!" I shifted my gaze to Ellen to see if she was okay, but her eyes were filled with black now too.

With one final effort, Ellen pushed Jo off of her.

"Ellen! Run!" Sam grunted while cocking his rifle to fire at one of the other men.

"Sam! They're not demons! Y-you are!" I jumped in front of the man as Sam was knocked to the ground.

Sam slowly shifted his head to look at his captor.

"Got you now, you bastard." he smiled.

"Sorry about this mess. We'll keep you safe." I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked at who it was. "I'm Jo by the way." She held her hand out to shake mine. "And that's Rufus," she nodded in the direction of the man holding Sam.

"Sh-shawna," I stuttered while shaking her hand. "Winchester."

"Winchester?"

Rufus began dragging Sam into the house.

"Yeah." We followed after them. "Bit of a long story."

Sam's eyes closed as his head hit the first step onto the porch.

"Well, it's nice to have another young hunter." She closed the door behind us and immediately I was filled with warmth from the fire place.

"What's going on here?" I asked. "Sam was fine just moments before you guys showed up. Same with Ellen."

"It's just a large demon attack. They're catching everyone quickly. Good thing we found you before they got to you."

I nodded my head, still confused. Based on what dad's journal said, this is impossible. Normally when a demon possession happens, there's a black smoke. I saw nothing and Ellen was calling Jo a demon, but her eyes are normal…

Jo walked out of the room and I was left with Rufus. He was tying Sam up.

"Please be gentle." I began walking towards him.

"He'll be fine after we get this demon out of him." Rufus made one last knot then stood up. "Are you that young Winchester that Bobby was telling me about? Shirley or whatever?"

"Shawna," I corrected him.

"And have you ever shot a gun?"

I shook my head 'no'.

"Oh gosh. Better learn quick if you want to survive this."

He held his hand out and I gave him my gun.

"Pull back the safety," he demonstrated. "Then pull the trigger. Got it?"

"I think so."

He gave me back the gun.

"Try at that wall over there. Do only one though. We don't want to waste bullets."

I held the gun with both hands and squinted my eyes, pretending to be in an action movie. I pulled back the safety then pulled the trigger. It shot straight through the wall and the gun flew back into my face. I dropped it and began rubbing at my lip.

Rufus laughed. Jo walked into the room with a jug of water.

A noise sounded behind me. I spun around.

"Uh-uh. No way you're getting out of those. Did you up myself. You're stuck right where I want you, you evil son of a bitch." Rufus slapped Sam while Jo poured the water on him. After nothing happened, he pulled Sam's head back.

"Gentle!" I shouted.

"No, wait, wait, wait," Sam struggled even harder.

Jo switched places with Sam while Rufus poured a vial of salt down Sam's throat.

I crouched in the corner and covered my ears.

"Exorcisamus te, exorcisamus te, omnis satanica"

"Stop!"

"—omnis immundum—"

"Please! Come on!"

"—omnis immundus—"

The chanting stopped, so I looked up. Sam's eyes were still filled with black. My heart pounded in my chest. "Hang in there, Sammy. Please," I whispered.

Jo let go of Sam and went towards the jug of water.

"Look! Something's not right! Do you see that?"

Jo poured more water on Sam, but he spit it all out.

"Come on! Stop! Listen to me!"

"Sam?" I stood up and stepped towards him carefully. All of a sudden, I noticed the demon traps surrounding Sam..

Jo and Rufus went to talk in a corner.

"Shawna, please. Listen to me. I'm not a demon."

My feet took a step towards Sam and before I knew it, I was untying him.

Sam quickly began walking out of the circle as soon as he felt the ropes fall off his hands.

"What are you doing?!" Jo screamed, noticing what was going on.

Rufus threw Sam back into the chair and frantically began tying Sam back up. "A strong one must of got you."

I felt something against my own hands. Jo. I kicked back, but she was faster. She pinned me to the floor. "Rufus! Rope please!"

"Stop!" Sam struggled against the ropes as Rufus finished tying the knots.

Rufus ran over to me, quickly tying my hands and feet.

"Sam was able to get out of the circle! He's not a demon!"

Jo and Rufus walked out of the room in a deep discussion.

"Your lip's bleeding."

I tried to wipe it with my shoulder, but I had no luck.

The door started opening, so I crawled my way into a corner and began trying to slide my hands out from the rope. With each twist it burned, but I had to help somehow.

An old man walked into the room. He seemed somewhat happy despite everything that was going on. I looked to Sam and he quickly began talking.

"Who the hell are you?"

The man slid his glasses off.

"What are you?"

"You caught me. Popped in to watch. I can hustle like that."

"So, the Roger everyone around here knows, the real Roger?"

"Buried in a ditch."

I swallowed my fear as the man closed a door and pulled a chair in front of Sam to sit in.

"So who are you?"

"Here's a hint. I was in Germany. Then in Germany. Then in the Middle East. I was in Darfur when my beeper went off. I'm waiting to hook up with my siblings. I've got three. We're going to have so much fun together."

Realization spread across Sam's face. "I know who you are. There aren't any demons in town, are there?"

"Nope. Just frightened people ripping each other's throats out. I really haven't had to do too much. Take out a bridge here, lay in a little hallucination there, sit back, pop some corn, watch the show. Frankly, you're really vicious little animals, Sam."

I tried to stand up, but Sam gave me a side eye and mouthed 'stay out of this.'

"No. You're doing this," Sam continued.

"Please. Last week, this was Mayberry. Now these people are stabbing each other's children."

I suddenly remembered the knife in my pocket and began trying to wiggle it out. _Come on, come on,_ I told myself.

"'Cause you made them see demons!"

"Honestly, people don't need a reason to kill each other. I mean, you seen the Irish? They're all Irish."

Sam rolled his eyes.

I finally managed to slip the knife out and grab it with a few of my fingers. I tried to hold back from screaming as the blade struggled between staying on the rope instead of on my wrist.

"You think I'm a monster? I'm jello shots at a party. I just remove inhibitions."

"I'm gonna kill you myself."

The man laughed.

I felt the knife cut through the rope, so I quickly began untying my legs.

"Oh, that's adorable, considering you're my poster boy."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You can't stop thinking about it, ever since you saw it dripping off the blade of that knife."

Sam's breathing grew heavier. I stood up with the blade in my hand.

"You're wrong."

"Save your protests for your brother. I can see inside your head. And man, it is one-track city in there. Blood, blood, blood. Lust for power. Same as always. You want to be strong again. But not just strong. Stronger than everybody. Good intentions—quick slide to hell, buddy boy. You feel bad now? Wait till you're thigh deep in warm corpses. Because, my friend, I'm just getting started."

I lunged at the man, but with just the simple swish of his hand, I was thrown against the wall. I groaned and tried to stand back up.

"Showtime for the meatsuits. Watch this."

Right as I stood up, the man twisted a ring on his finger and put back on his glasses. Blood slowly dripped down his face. The man kicked over a chair then fell on the ground, screaming.

Panicking, I stood up to help him, the knife still in my hand.

Rufus and Jo burst into the room.

I dropped my blade, realizing what this might look like.

"They did this!"

"No!"

"Stop! Listen! Something's not right!" I tried to be the voice of reason, but Jo looked at me, anger filling her eyes.

"He said they're coming! He said they're coming to get us!"

"No, stop! Jo, Rufus, he's lying! No!" Sam struggled against the ropes.

"You shut your mouth!" Rufus roared.

I moved towards Sam, but was soon tackled to the ground by Jo.

"Please! Jo! He's lying!" was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

My eyes blinked open. The sunlight burned. Something was moving me.

"Adam?" I said in a daze.

"Nope," Dean replied, helping me stand back up on my own.

"Dean! Over here!" Sam shouted.

I carefully ran after the two. My eyes were having troubles adjusting to normal life, but I saw a red mustang with the old man beside it.

Without any warning, Sam and Dean ran at the man, grabbing him from behind. The man began laughing.

Sam pulled out a knife as Dean gained a stronger grip on the man.

"Whoa. Okay. That's a sweet little knife. But come on. You can't kill war, kiddos."

 _War?_ I tried to recall anybody who was named war and it took only a few seconds for the four horsemen to pop into my head. _But that means the apocalypse is coming…_

"Oh, we know," Dean grinned.

Sam quickly sliced four fingers off the man and the ring clattered to the ground with them.

Dean reached for the ring and out of nowhere, the man disappeared.

"This is some messed up shit," I scratched my head as I spoke.

Sam began laughing.

The next day, we decided to stop for a quick break at a nearby park. I was sitting next to Dean at the picnic table, Sam sat across from us.

Sam and Dean had finally told me what was going on, but I was still struggling to understand everything. _How did I spend sixteen years of my life without knowing any of this stuff?_

I bit into an apple as Dean admired War's ring.

"So, pit stop at Mount Doom?"

I nodded my head and took another bite while Sam remained silent. He refused to look at Dean and instead his eyes held a steady gaze in the distance.

"Dean—"

"Sam, let's not."

"No, listen. This is important. I know you guys don't trust me."

Sam looked up, but Dean quickly looked away. I set down my apple and wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my hoodie.

"I do," I responded quietly.

"But you shouldn't, not after everything I've done and just, now I realized something. I don't trust myself."

Dean looked up at Sam. .

"From the minute I saw that blood, it was the only thought in my head… and I tell myself it's for the right reasons, my intentions are good, and it... it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath… I just miss the feeling. I know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up I am. Thing is, the problem's not the demon blood, not really. I mean, I, what I did, I can't blame the blood or Ruby or… anything. The problem's me. How far I'll go. There's something in me that… scares the hell out of me. In the last couple of days, I caught another glimpse…"

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm in no shape to be hunting. I need to step back, 'cause I'm dangerous. Maybe it's best we just...go our separate ways. You take Shawna. Keep her safe."

I thought about this for a minute and quickly spoke up. "No. We're not leaving you Sam." I began to rise up in the seat, but Dean quickly pushed on my shoulder to get me back down.

"Sam's right" was all he said.

"I was expecting a fight," Sam replied.

"The truth is I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job right. And I just, I can't afford that, you know? Not now."

Sam nodded. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are, Sam."

Sam slowly stood up from his seat.

"Hey, do you, uh, wanna take the Impala?"

"It's okay."

Sam walked a few steps away and my heart began aching. _How can I let this happen? How can_ _ **Dean**_ _let this happen?_

Sam suddenly looked back.

"Take care of yourselves."

"Yeah, you too, Sammy."

I remained silent as Sam grabbed his backpack from the Impala and hopped into a nearby truck. It sped off into the distance.

"What are we supposed to do?" I whispered, not expecting Dean to hear.

"We do what us Winchesters do best: we hunt."

He shoved the apple off the table and began walking towards the car.

I ran after him, worry filling my thoughts.


	6. The End

**A/N: This chapter may be a little bit confusing, but "The End" takes place in the future, so it's future Shawna's POV for most of the chapter.**

Five years ago was the last time I talked to Sam, but it feels like just yesterday.

"Can you help me take inventory?" Chuck asked.

I remained silent and pulled the crumpled picture out of my pocket. Sam's face was barely visible through the wrinkles in the paper, but it was enough to remind me of him.

"Seriously, you gotta stop looking at that picture and help us out."

"What's the point in taking inventory? We're all going to die anyways." I grabbed my rifle and stood up..

"You have to protect the baby and make a life for him." He put his hand on my belly and I slapped him.

"You don't even know if it's yours." I attempted to pull my small shirt down to cover the bump before heading out.

"Shawna!" I heard Dean's voice shout.

I quickly spun around to face him, the picture of Sam still in my hand.

"Have you found Sam? Is he okay?"

"Uh no… um…" Dean's gaze was fixed on my stomach. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure. I was thinking we maybe need to start traveling farther, I'm sure he's still alive." I followed Dean into his cabin and quickly plopped onto the bed.

"Listen, I'm not from here."

"Yeah, sure you are. Can I borrow a shirt? I'm tired of all my small ones."

"No! Listen to me! I'm from the past!"

I looked at Dean, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm from the past. Zach sent me here."

"Is Sam? Is he with you… in the past?"

"No. Yes, sort of."

"When… or if you get back, don't let him leave you. Please." I begged.

"Why? What happened to him?"

"Dean, well my Dean, says that he's missing. Everyone keeps telling me to move on. That I have a responsibility for the baby now, but you and Sam are my brothers. I can't leave either of you. If there is even a slight chance of Sam being alive, I have to find him."

"I'll find him before I go back. I promise." Dean grabbed my hand in his.

I closed my eyes, finally feeling hope again.

"By the way," Dean sat next to me, "who's the father?"

"I don't know. Maybe Chuck? Maybe Cas?"

"Wait, Cas and Chuck are here?"

"Yeah." I opened my eyes and yawned.

"Can you take me to Cas?"

"Sure. Lemme borrow one of Dean's, my Dean's, shirts really quickly."

Dean didn't move, so I made a little motion with my hands. "Out, shoo. Let me change."

Dean walked out of the room and quietly closed the door behind him.

I immediately ran over to Dean's drawer of shirts and pulled out a gray one.

My fingers shakily pulled my shirt up over my head, revealing the antipossession tattoo situated just below my collarbone. I sighed and pulled Dean's shirt over my head.

While walking to the door, I heard yelling. I flung the door open to find Risa talking to Dean.

"Screw you!" she yelled with anger in her eyes.

"Oh, jeez. I'm getting busted for stuff I haven't even done yet."

Chuck was right next to them and as soon as he said "what," I realized I needed to get Dean out of there.

"Come on, Dean. I haven't got all day. I need to get some rest." I grabbed Dean's arm and dragged him to Castiel's building.

"In here. I'll go with you. Guys generally aren't allowed in at this hour."

I slowly pushed the door open, trying not to disturb everyone.

"So, in this way. We're each a fragment of total perception—just, uh, one compartment in that dragonfly eye of group mind. Now, the key to this total, shared perception—it's, um, it's surprisingly physical," Castiel's voice sounded around the room as all the girls in the room stared at him in awe. "Oh Shawna, are you here for me to check on our baby?"

I remained silent, but stepped aside, allowing Castiel to see Dean.

"Oh. Excuse me, ladies. I think I need to confer with our fearless leader for a minute. Why not go get washed up for the orgy?"

Dean and I slid in the door as all the ladies began leaving.

"You're all so beautiful!" he shouted as the last one left the room.

"Cas, you don't know if it's yours," I hissed. "So don't go saying that unless you want to start a fight."

"What are you, a hippie?" Dean asked, ignoring my comment.

I quickly sat on the floor, standing gets tiring after a while now.

"I thought you'd gotten over trying to label me."

"Cas, we got to talk."

"Whoa. Strange."

"What?"

"You… are not you. Not now you, anyway."

"Obviously," I muttered.

"What year are you from?"

"2009."

I gasped. "That's the year-"

Castiel sat next to me and I quickly shut up. "We can't tell him what will happen."

I nodded my head in understanding.

"Who did this to you? Is it Zachariah?"

"Yes," Dean replied.

"Interesting…"

"Oh, yeah, it's friggin' fascinating. Now. Why don't you strap on your angel wings and fly me back to my page on the calendar?"

I burst out a laugh, but quickly regretted it after remembering how sensitive Cas used to be about this.

"I wish I could just, uh, strap on my wings, but I'm sorry, no dice."

"What, are you stoned?"

"Uh, generally, yeah."

"What happened to you?"

"Life."

"Ugh. I'll see you tonight Cas. I need to go get some sleep. Have fun Dean from the past."

I walked out of the room and back to Dean's cabin, plopping on his bed. I fell asleep almost instantly.

A knock on the door woke me up. Dean was standing in the doorway as the door was resting against the outside of the cabin.

"Five hours? Are you kidding me? Come on. Time for a meeting."

I groaned and sat up. "Can you carry me?"

"No. We're already running late."

"Pwetty pwease," my voice shifted into a childish manner. "Little Sammy doesn't want momma to walk." I patted my stomach.

He picked me up as if I were a baby and began walking to headquarters.

"You gotta start working on your physical strength again."

"Yeah, and you should've found Sam by now. We all ignore things that we don't want to do."

Dean lowered me to the ground. "I need to tell you something before we go in there."

"What is it? I'm sure my life can't get any crappier."

"Sam… he… uh…" it was evident that whatever Dean was going to say pained him.

"It's okay. You can tell me." I rested my hand on his shoulder.

"Sam accepted Lucifer. Lucifer is in Sam."

I gasped. "Wait… but… no. He wouldn't."

"He did. We have recently found where he is, but you can't come along. We have to protect you."

"You can't stop me," I protested while marching into headquarters.

Dean followed behind me.

"Fashionably late as always," Risa grumbled angrily.

"Sorry. Fell asleep," I mumbled while finding my way over to the Dean from the past.

"I got the Colt," my Dean said while pulling it out of his back pocket.

"So, that's it? That's the Colt?" Risa asked.

"If anything can kill Lucifer, this is it."

"Wait no." I remembered our conversation from just a few seconds ago and became panicked. "We can't kill him. Please. We have to protect him."

"He's already gone. He's just an empty shell with Lucifer inside of him," Risa seemed irritated. "By the way, now that we have the Colt, do we have anything that can _find_ Lucifer?"

"Are you okay?" my Dean questioned Risa with genuine concern in his voice.

"Oh, we were in, uh, Jane's cabin last night. And, apparently, we and… Risa have a connection." I elbowed the past Dean in the side causing him to grunt.

"Don't mess with him," I hissed.

"We don't have to find Lucifer," my Dean continued. "We know where he is. The demon that we caught last week, he was one of the big guy's entourage. He knew."

"So, a demon tells you where Satan's gonna be, and you just believe it?" Risa crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke.

"Oh, trust me, he wasn't lying."

"And you know this how?"

"Our fearless leader, I'm afraid, is all too well schooled in the art of getting to the truth." Castiel shocked me. I hadn't even realized he was in the room.

"Torture? Oh, so, we're torturing again." The past Dean's words struck back images of the last time I had assisted my Dean in torturing a demon.

I grabbed my stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick." My feet quickly carried me out of the building where I began vomiting.

After I had finished puking, a thought suddenly occurred to me. _What if I could talk some sense into Sam? Get him to force Lucifer out? I can probably hitch a ride in one of the trucks._

I quickly ran to my cabin, grabbed a blanket and hid in the nearest truck.

In only a couple of hours, I heard voices and felt the car moving. Silently, I encouraged myself that what I was doing was right and that maybe I could actually do some good.

The shaking of a pill bottle filled my ears. _Oh gosh, is Cas still taking those stupid drugs?_

"Let me see those." I heard Dean's voice say. I hoped it was the Dean from the past, but I couldn't tell.

"You want some?" Castiel responded.

"Amphetamines?"

"It's the perfect antidote to that absinthe."

I rolled my eyes at Castiel's comment. His addiction for those stupid drugs is getting out of control.

"Mmm. Don't get me wrong, Cas. I, uh. I'm happy that the stick is out of your ass, but—what's going on—w-with the drugs and the orgies and the love-guru crap?"

Castiel began laughing.

 _That has got to be the Dean from the past, right?_ I decided to wait it out a little longer.

"What's so funny?"

"Dean, I'm not an angel anymore."

"What?"

"Yeah, I went mortal."

"What do you mean? How?"

"I think it had something to do with the other angels leaving. But when they bailed, my mojo just kind of— psshhew!—drained away. And now, you know, I'm practically human. I mean, Dean, I'm all but useless. Last year, broke my foot, laid up for two months."

"It's a pain in the ass now," I finally spoke up, pulling the blanket off of me.

"You. Have. To. Be. Back. At. Camp." Castiel pronounced each word with force and precision.

"Don't go all angel on me again."

"I'm just saying that you need to protect that child. Who knows what you'll do when you see Lucifer."

"I can talk to him. Explain to him what's going-"

"Hey kid," Dean interrupted. "Not to burst your bubble, but when Adam died, you were bonkers and went a little insane. Seeing Lucifer in Sam will mess you up good."

I sighed. "I have nothing to lose. We are all going to die soon anyways. Plus, when you go back, you can change everything"

"Shawna, blanket now," Castiel whispered as the truck slowed to a stop.

I threw the blanket over myself and sat there shaking with fear. _If Dean from the present were to find me, what would he do to me?_

After a few minutes, I poked my head out from under the blanket to see my Dean punch the other Dean.

"Stop!" I shouted, trying to get out of the truck, but quickly being stopped by my basketball of a stomach.

"Shawna?!" Dean stormed over to me, rage filling his eyes. "What are you doing here?!"

"Let me talk to Sam. Please. I can help."

"How many times do we have to tell you? He's gone." Risa's voice was matter of fact as she approached me to help me out of the truck.

"Risa, take her back to camp. Now."

"To think I ever hated you back then. Look at you now, you piece of garbage. Next thing I know, you'll let Castiel die."

"Why you-!" Dean roared, raising his fist to hit me. My body tensed, preparing for the blow.

"Oh Dean," a familiar voice echoed around the area.

"Sam!" Dean and I shouted simultaneously.

Dean ran over to his past self and began lugging him into the truck. "Follow the voice, Risa!"

We quickly climbed into our vehicles and sped off, heading straight for- _the garden? Lucifer was hiding in a garden?_

"Stay here." Dean threw a rifle into my hands. "Shoot whatever comes near you."

I nodded my head and looked at past Dean who was passed out next to me.

"Why did you bring Dean along?"

"To show him what would happen if he didn't accept Michael." He paused in thought. "I suppose I should bring him for when he wakes up…"

"Please be safe." I leaned out the side of the wagon and embraced Dean in a hug.

"I will."

Dean dragged his double out of the truck and into the garden.

After hearing gunshots, I ran to the garden, leaving the rifle in the truck, and crouched behind a brick pillar in order to keep my eye on everything that was going on.

In the midst of all the chaos, I saw him. Sam. He was dressed in a white suit and seemed pleased with all the death.

Screaming distracted and that's when I saw Risa went down. One of the strongest warriors we had went done first.. I had to stop from screaming. I knew there would be more death, but she was there for me. She protected me even when Dean didn't.

Slowly everyone fell to the ground.

My Dean fell last. Someone leaned down who I thought was going to help him with the bloody mess pouring out of a cut in his neck. He looked at me and shook his head 'no.' I heard a snap and the life drained out of his eyes.

I stuck my hand in my mouth, stifling back a sob.

"Oh. Hello, Dean." Sam finally spoke.

I carefully stuck my head out from the brick pillar, tears streaming down my cheeks.

The past Dean slowly rose up to standing position.

"Aren't you a surprise."

With a flash of lightning and a loud boom, Sam was standing behind Dean, blocking my view of what was going on.

"Well, go ahead. Kill me."

"No!" I shrieked, jumping out from behind the pillar. They both spun around to face me.

I instantly regretted not taking the rifle from the truck with me. "Sam, listen. It's me. I'm here to help you." My hands were raised in surrender.

"Shawna." Sam's face fell to a frown. "Is it really you?"

I nodded my head 'yes,' still crying.

Sam took a step towards me. I took one in response and a small smile slipped onto my face.

"Pity you got fooled so quick." His face turned to a grin. "And that baby. Oh, he actually would've given me a competition."

My heart dropped in my chest.

"Don't hurt her!" Dean from the past screamed.

"It's fine. Just don't make the same mista-"

There was a snap of fingers, then everything went black.

I woke up to a pain in my stomach and a crink in my neck. "Gah," I yawned.

"Shawna?" Dean was standing above me.

"Yeah?" I used my arms to push me up off the rough ground. "Where are we?" We were on a deserted road in the middle of the night, but last I remembered, I had fallen asleep in our hotel room. All I was wearing on was a long t-shirt that I used as a nightgown.

Dean smiled and grabbed me, hugging me with so much force I thought I was going to explode.

"Dean. Stop. My stomach hurts."

He slowly pulled away from me and bent his legs to get down to my level. "Are you pregnant?"

I burst out laughing and noticed Castiel standing right next to us. His face was firm, even concerned.

"No. I'm being serious." Dean placed his hands on my shoulders.

I stopped laughing. "What? Uh… not unless I'm the next Virgin Mary. What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing. It's just- it's good to see you." He hugged me again.

"Cas, what's going?" I mouthed.

He shrugged.

Dean pulled away and took out of his phone.

"What are you doing?" Cas questioned.

"Something I should have done in the first place."

"Can I go back to bed now? I'm tired." I didn't have time for any drama or hunting right now. I wanted sleep and sleep I would get.

Dean dialed a number and his phone began ringing.

"The car?" Castiel asked.

Dean nodded.

"Come here." Castiel reached for my arm and in an instant we were both in the back seat of the Impala.

"Thank you." I laid with my head on Cas's lap. He put his hand on my head and I quickly fell asleep.


	7. Changing Channels

**Chapter 7**

 **A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for skipping some episodes. Just realistically, I don't have time to write every episode and I'm also hoping that someday I can get this story caught up with the newest season.**

One minute we were solving a case. The next we were stuck in some sort of dream land…

Sam and I stood outside the fake door, waiting for our cue.

" _Supernatural_ is filmed before a live studio audience," Dean's voice echoed across the set.

There was the sound of the refrigerator closing before Dean spoke. "I'm gonna need a bigger mouth."

I looked at Sam, confused with what was happening, but somehow I knew what I was supposed to say when I got into the room.

Laughs sounded across the empty set.

Sam nodded at me and we stepped through the door, cheesy smiles plastered onto our makeup covered faces.

"Hey there, guys. What's happening?" Dean asked with a smile.

"Oh, nothing. Um. Just the end of the world," Sam replied.

The laugh track sounded as I followed the order of actions and looked to the sandwich.

"You're gonna need a bigger mouth," I said with a fake sounding voice.

"Hey, uh, have you done your research yet?" Sam pretended to be curious in Dean's life.

A look of guilt spread across Dean's face as he looked towards the audience and their laughing began again. "Oh, yeah. All kinds of research… all night."

"Yeah? Hm." Sam acted like he was clueless.

The bathroom door opened and a woman in a bikini slid out. She was thin and tan, Dean's favorite.

I let out an overdramatic gasp while staring at Dean.

"Oh, Dean…" the lady said as a wolf whistle echoed around the set.

Sam looked at the girl as Dean turned around to face us.

"We have some more research to do."

Sam and I both folded our arms at the same time before rolling our eyes.

"Dean…"

The laughs started again and continued after Dean exclaimed "Son of a bitch!"

I felt my whole body shake as the setting around me changed. My skin slowly became translucent as I felt myself floating into a wardrobe.

"Shuck," I muttered, confused why I could barely move myself.

Music sounded as I heard footsteps approach me. The doors flung open, light filling my face and for some reason, I did an evil grin.

Sam was standing there, but he quickly slammed the door shut. I could hear his breathing outside the door and figured that he might be standing right outside of it. I closed my eyes, waiting for the setting to change again.

Two days earlier, we were going to investigate a case in Ohio. I was sitting on Sam's bed while Dean was watching a ridiculous show about medical stuff.

I rubbed my neck, hoping to relieve the pain of having to sleep on the floor. _Why couldn't they just start getting rooms with three beds?_

"Oh how I struggled in vain with this riddle in my brain," the tv played music as Sam sat next to me on the bed.

"What are you watching?"

"Hospital show. _Dr. Sexy, MD_. I think it's based on a book," Dean spoke without looking away from the tv.

"When did you hit menopause?"

I laughed.

"It's called channel surfing."

"Go get changed. We should leave soon." Sam grabbed the remote from Dean and shut off the tv as I went to change into my paintsuit. Pant Suits are the one thing I dreaded most about working these cases. They were uncomfortable as heck. I mean I haven't really worked on many yet because of Dean, but still…

I walked out of the bathroom while putting the last bobby pin into my bun.

"You ready?" Dean asked me.

I nodded my head 'yes' and we took off.

Once we got there, Sam quickly explained to one of their officers that we were the FBI and we're here to investigate the case. As usual, I was asked if I was old enough to be an FBI agent and I had to explain that I was an agent in training.

After we started asking our typical questions, the officer interrupted us. "One more time, the FBI is here why, exactly?"

"Might have something to do with one of your locals getting his head ripped off," Dean stated matter of factly.

"Bill Randolph died from a bear attack."

"How sure are you that it was a bear?" Sam responded.

"What else would it be?"

"Well, whatever it was it chased Mr. Randolph through the woods, smashed through his front door followed him up the stairs, and killed him in his bedroom."

"Is that common, a bear doing all that?" I asked, crossing my arms on my chest while I spoke to seem more 'official'.

"Depends how pissed off it is, I guess. Look, the Randolphs live way up in high country. You got trout runs to make a grown man weep. And bears."

"Right. Now, what about Mrs. Randolph? The file says she saw the whole thing."

I sighed, remembering how messed up it can make someone.

"Yes, she did." There was a pause before the officer continued talking. "My heart goes out to that poor woman."

"She said bear," Dean's voice was firm.

"Kathy Randolph went through a hell of a trauma. She's confused."

Sam began to speak, but I held up my hand to stop him. "Could we talk to her?"

He nodded his head and within a few minutes, we were talking to Kathy.

The room she was in was small and had many windows. She was nervously sitting by herself, refusing to look up as we walked in.

"Let me take this," I whispered to the boys while I sat down across from her. "Kathy?" She didn't look up, so I moved my hands towards hers before she quickly pulled away. "Can you tell us what happened?"

She looked up at me, fear still in her eyes. "No, it must have been a bear. I mean, what else could it have been?"

"Kathy, what do you think it was?"

"No, I, I remember clearly now. It was definitely a bear."

"We're sure it was. But see, it helps us to hear every angle. So just tell us what you thought you saw." Dean interrupted me, so I glared at him.

"It's impossible, but...I could have sworn I saw...the Incredible Hulk."

"The Incredible Hulk?" I quickly looked at Sam and he just shrugged.

"I told you it was crazy."

Dean began asking questions about actors who played the Hulk which made Sam and I realize that we were done here.

"We don't think you're crazy. Thank you for talking to us." Sam opened the door for Dean and I.

"The Incredible Hulk? Now this is my kind of case." Dean grinned as I let out a sigh.

A few hours later, we all split up. Dean decided that this was too dangerous of a case for me to join in on (which I was infuriated about), so he sent me to go get lunch. _It actually seems quite stupid to me that I'm allowed to act as an FBI agent where I could potentially get arrested, but I'm not allowed to do the actual hunting part of things. I mean come on!_

The nearest place I could find was a local burger place. I pulled two twenties out of my wallet and walked in.

My phone buzzed. It read:

Can you get me a piece of pie while you're out? -Dean

In a glass case near the cash register, I saw one piece of pie, but there was a whole line of people in front of me.

 _Was it worth making people mad just to get Dean a piece of pie? Nahhh._

I waited nearly twenty minutes before I got to the cash register and the piece of pie was long gone by then.

"Sorry," I quickly texted Dean.

I ordered three burgers and four orders of chili fries (Dean loves his chili fries).

I stood outside, the wind whipping at my tired face when I decided to call Dean. He picked up on the first ring.

"Can you pick me up? I don't wanna walk."

"Sam'll pick you up if you go get me some beer."

"Dean," I hissed. "I'm too young."

"And you have a fake license. Get some and I'll take you along with us on this case." He quickly hung up the phone.

I silently whooped my fist in the air then realized how awkward I must look.

Fortunately for me, the grocery store wasn't too far away. I found the cheapest beer there and went to go buy it.

My heart beat increased with each scanned item in front of me. _I'm doing this. I'm actually doing this. I'm buying alcohol._

The cashier took one look at me then the beer before saying "nuh-uh."

"I'm twenty two." I held out the fake license and showed it to him, but apparently it was upside down or something because he still refused.

"You look like you're fourteen."

"I am not!" I stood on my toes to make myself look taller. "And plus my license clearly says that I'm twenty two!"

The man groaned. "If you get in trouble, it's not my fault." He finally took the money.

I gleefully walked out of the store to find Sam waiting in the Impala.

"Are you kidding me?" Sam stretched his arms as I slid into the car.

"Dean wanted it."

"But you're sixteen." The Impala began moving down the empty street.

"Almost seventeen," I corrected him.

"Still…"

"You think Dean cares," I laughed.

We got to the hotel in no time and found Dean sitting at the table, the lights off in the room.

"Hey," Sam said while I plopped the food and beer in front of Dean.

"Find anything?"

"Well, uh, I saw the house."

I sat down next to Dean and pulled out my burger.

"And?"

"And there is a giant eight-foot-wide hole where the front door used to be. Almost like, uh—"

"A Hulk-sized hole."

"Maybe. What do you got?"

"Well, it turns out that Bill Randolph had quite the temper. He's got two counts of spousal battery, bar brawls, and court-ordered anger management sessions. You might say you wouldn't like him when he's angry." Dean pulled the chili fries out of the bag and quickly began chowing into them.

"So a hothead getting killed by TV's greatest hothead. Kinda sounds like just desserts, doesn't it?"

"What do you think is doing this?" I spoke between bites, attempting to be as polite as I could.

"I think it's all starting to make sense…"

"How is it starting to make sense?" I asked while Dean finished up his first order of chili fries.

"Well, I found something else at the crime scene." Sam pulled out a wad of garbage from his pocket. "Candy wrappers." He dropped them all in front of Dean. "Lots of them."

I placed my burger on the table and wiped my hands on my pants.

"Just desserts, sweet tooth, screwing with people before you kill 'em—we're dealing with the Trickster, aren't we?"

"Sure looks like it."

"Wait wait wait. Who?"

"The Trickster. That son of a bitch killed me over and over to mess with us. He can make you think you're in situations that aren't real." Dean didn't look up from the bag of food as he pulled out his burger.

"Sort of like dreams?"

"Yeah, but you can actually feel pain and die in them."

I shuddered at the thought. "How do we kill one?"

"Don't know yet," Sam responded, frustration filling his tired face.

"All I know is that I've wanted to gank that mother since Mystery Spot." Dean's face was filled with rage and determination.

"You sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure."

"No, I mean are you sure you wanna kill him?"

"Son of a bitch didn't think twice about icing me a thousand times."

"No, I know, I mean, I'm just saying—"

"What are you saying? If you don't want to kill him, then what?" Dean pulled his second order of chili fries out of the bag.

"Talk to him?"

I remained silent as they spoke and I stood up to go grab a glass of water.

"What?"

"Think about it, Dean. He's one of the most powerful creatures we've ever met. Maybe we can use him."

I sat back down at the table and took a slow, but noisey sip of water.

"For what?"

"Okay, Trickster's like a Hugh Hefner type, right? Wine, women, song—maybe he doesn't want the party to end. Maybe he hates this angels and demons stuff as much as we do. Maybe he'll help us."

"You're serious?"

"Yeah."

"Ally with the Trickster?"

I set my water down so that I could speak. "Maybe it might be a good idea. I mean he could help us with this whole apocalypse thing and if he tries to kill Dean again, we'll just kill him."

"A bloody, violent monster, and you guys wanna be Facebook friends with him? Nice."

"The world is gonna end, Dean. We don't have the luxury of a moral stand. Look, I'm just saying it's worth a shot. That's all. If it doesn't work, we'll kill him."

I untied my hair from the bun I put it in earlier and let it fall around my shoulders.

Dean let out a large sigh before he spoke again. "How are we gonna find the guy, anyway?"

"Well, he never takes just one victim, right? He'll show."

A few hours later, I was hiding in the shower of our hotel room. My brain kept floating to Adam. I couldn't place why today he came to my mind, but he did.

I closed my eyes, hoping to see him one last time. My cheeks were wet with tears, but a call from Sam signaled that I needed to stop.

I stood up and walked to the mirror. My eyes were red. "I miss you," I whispered as if Adam were with me. I wiped the remaining tears off my face and walked out of the bathroom.

"Were you thinking of him again?" Sam asked. They were both standing by the door.

I nodded my head 'yes,' but remained silent.

"Let's go. We think we know where the trickster is. We'll get you some ice cream or something after we go take care of the trickster."

I followed them out the door, keeping my eyes glued to the ground. Dean handed me a stake before he began driving.

"Remember, don't believe anything you see. Look for the trickster. If you see him, try to either talk to him or kill him."

I nodded my head and stared at the stake.

It was a short drive to the warehouse. There was no one here. Not even a sign that a dead body was here..

"There was a murder here, and there's no police cars. There's nobody. How's that look to you?"

"Crappy." Sam kept the watch while Dean brought out the rest of the hunting gear.

I heard a slight noise coming from the warehouse and approached. Dean and Sam took notice.

"Hey guys!" My hand slowly reached forward to grab to door handle.

"Shawna! Wait!" Dean yelled. I heard footsteps behind me as I pushed open the door.

My body was shaking. I couldn't see anything.

"Sam? Dean?"

Everything slowly came into focus. We were in some sort of hospital. I looked down to find the stake missing. A lab coat was resting on my shoulders.

"What the hell?" Dean's voice sounded from behind me. I spun around to find them entering through the door only to see it quickly shut behind them.

Two doctors walked by us and said "doctor" while nodding their heads in acknowledgement.

"Where are we?" my voice was just below a whisper.

Sam looked down at his clothes. "Doctor?"

Dean quickly grabbed for the door that we came in and flung it open only to find a couple making out. He slammed the door and looked at me, his eyes wide.

"Abldo... " he sputtered out nonsense.

"What?" I tried to listen to what Dean was saying, but nothing made sense. "Sam? What's going on?"

"The Trick- oh hell."

I took another look at my body to find I had the body of a model.

"What the hell!" I wrapped the lab coat around me. "What's going on?"

A doctor with brunette hair walked up to us. Her face filled with anger. "Doctor," she said as she slapped Sam across the face.

"Ow!"

"Seriously."

"What?"

"Seriously? You're brilliant, you know that? And a coward. You're a brilliant coward."

"Um. What are you talking about?"

The girl slapped him again before saying one last remark. "As if you don't know!" she stormed off.

Sam rubbed at his pink cheek.

"I don't believe this." Dean face was filled with awe.

"What?"

"That's Dr. Piccolo."

"Who?"

"Dr. Ellen Piccolo. The sexy yet earnest doctor at—"

"Dean, no," I cut him off. "This is impossible. We can't be in-"

"The doctor getups. The, the sexy interns. The 'seriously's. It all makes sense."

"What makes sense? What's going on?" Sam looked confused.

"Dean! Listen to me! This isn't possible!" I looked Dean in the face. "It's the Trickster. It has to be. Calm down."

Dean's mouth spread into a slight smile. "We're in _Dr. Sexy, MD_."

We walked down the hallway, Dean's sudden moment of happiness disappearing.

"Dude, what the hell," Dean's voice was gruff as he spoke.

"I don't know," Sam replied.

"No, seriously, what the hell."

We turned a corner as I responded in the same way that Sam did. "I don't know."

"One theory. Any theory."

"Uh, the Trickster trapped us in TV Land," Sam was struggling to understand the situation as much as I was.

I held my arms over my chest as we walked, hoping that my old body would come back to me soon.

"That's your theory? That's stupid."

"You're the one who said we're on _Dr. Sexy, MD_."

"Yeah, but TV land isn't TV Land. I mean, there's actors and, and lights and crew members, you know. This looks real."

"It can't be. Dean, how can this possibly be real?"

"I mean, did that slap hurt Sam?" I looked at his pink cheek, almost laughing about how stupid this whole situation was. "Let's just try to get out of here," I whispered as a nurse walked by us.

"Doctors." The nurse nodded her head at us.

"There goes Dr. Wang. The sexy but arrogant heart surgeon."

I rolled my eyes.

"And there's Johnny Drake. Oh, he's not even alive, he's a ghost in the mind of—"

We walked by a bench where a man was sitting. Within seconds of spotting the man, a woman walked over and sat next to him.

"Of her. The sexy yet neurotic doctor over there," Dean continued.

"So...this show has ghosts? Why?"

"I don't know. It is compelling."

"I thought you said you weren't a fan."

"I'm not. I'm not."

"Yeah right," I muttered as a man began approaching us.

"Oh boy." Fear and admiration mixed their way into Dean's eyes.

"What?" Sam asked as we stopped walking.

"It's him."

"Who?"

The doctor walked closer to us, so I slid behind Sam, slightly scared of what was to come.

"It's him, it's Dr. Sexy."

Dr. Sexy stopped in front of us. "Hey nurse."

I peeked my head out from behind Sam.

"Why don't you go get prepared? You'll be needed soon."

"What?"

He winked at me. "Go on. Quickly please."

'Help,' I mouthed at the boys as I walked back the way we came.

"Get prepared? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nurse, come on. We need you in room 3. No time to change."

"Oh I'm not a-" the voice grabbed my arm and dragged me into a room where a woman was screaming.

Her face was red and her legs were split apart.

"You were supposed to be here earlier! Her water broke five hours ago." Another nurse was holding the lady's hand.

"It's okay. She's here. She'll help you."

My face dropped. "B-but I can't."

"Her heart rate is dropping. We need a C-section now!"

The lady's legs were lowered down as she went limp.

"NOW!" the other nurses roared.

My heart raced in my chest. "What do I do?!"

I was handed gloves and a scalpel as the lady's shirt was lifted up to reveal the basketball sized stomach.

I swallowed down my fear and slid the gloves on. The scalpel nearly slipped out of my hand as I lowered it to her stomach. "Here goes nothing…"

Getting the scalpel in was the hardest part. It slid along after that. I spotted where I thought the baby was supposed to be and I cut there. It was a lucky a guess because I saw the small, breathing body soon after that.

I pulled him out, covered in goop. He silently watched me as I handed him to the other nurses.

"Hurry! Get the other one out!"

A drop of sweat rolled down my face. _The other one?!_

I put the scalpel down to grab the next child. He was deeper in there and my arms became covered in blood. "Come on, come on…"

I felt my hands wrap around his belly and I gently pulled him out with a smile. "Got em!" I smiled.

Another nurse grabbed the second child. "She's gone."

"What? But I got the babies out? We can sew her back up, right?" my voice was rushed and filled with panic.

"She's dead! Leave!" one of the nurses screamed at me.

I slowly backed out the door in shock, blood dripping down my hands.

"Michael and Lucifer, are they okay? Are my sons okay?"

I looked at the man. His face was filled with fear.

"Are Michael and Lucifer okay?"

I backed against the wall as he repeated this question.

I tore off the doctor's coat and gloves. Running down the hallway, I screamed in frustration.

It took me a while to find Sam and Dean. They were in an operating room, Dean laying on the table. My eyes met with Sam's, Bloody tweezers where in his hand.

My mouth fell agape at the bullet wound on Dean's back, but before I could enter the room, my body began shaking. Everything in my vision became a blur until I saw nothing.

"Dean!" I shouted, trying to find some solid ground.

When I finally hit the ground, blue smoke surrounded my vision. "Sam!" I coughed.

A gust of cold air hit me and I shivered, suddenly aware of my disgusting outfit; I was in a crop top/bra type thing with a short skirt and… _Are those over the knee boots? What the heck?_

Someone pressed on my bareback and I shivered, walking forward.

Bright lights hit my face as I caught a glimpse of the boys. Their feet were stuck in some sort of contraption.

"Sam, Dean!" I tried to run to them, but a man grabbed my arm.

He muttered something to me in a different language while pointing to a red 'X' on the ground. My feet slowly carried me over to it. I wrapped my arms around my exposed stomach, hoping for this whole thing to be over.

Sam leaned back to look at me. "Castiel," he mouthed.

I nodded my head in understandment and slowly closed my eyes. _Castiel, please. If you can hear me, we need help._

"Let's play Nutcracker!" the voice echoed around the packed room full of people.

My eyes flew open. _Whatever Nutcracker is, it doesn't sound good…_

The crowd applauded. When I looked to Dean, I noticed a pole with a ball at the end of it and a buzzer right in front of him. I swallowed back my fear for my brothers.

The man who spoke earlier was speaking again, his hand pulling a card out of his coat pocket.

"Sam Winchester." The man continued speaking in Japanese. "Countdown!" he put the cards he was looking at behind his back, his face aglow with eager anticipation.

"What?"

I looked back to find a screen counting down seconds. My heartbeat became quicker, worried about what was to happen.

"Uh, what am I supposed to say?" Sam looked to Dean for help, fear in his eyes.

"You think I know?"

"Uh, I, I don't, I don't understand Japanese." Sam turned his attention back to the man, desperately trying to get help as the man spoke even more in Japanese.

"Is he screwing with me? I, I, I can't speak Japanese."

A buzzer sounded, causing me to jump. Sam's time was up.

The man spoke more in Japanese before screaming "Ruby!" The man's face suddenly fell. "I'm sorry, Sam Winchester."

"Sorry? Sir? For what?"

 _This game is called Nut Cracker… there's a ball on a stick in front of the boys… he's sorry. NUT?!_ "Sam!" I screamed. It was all coming together.

I saw the ball raise and quickly shut my eyes as Sam groaned in agony.

"Nutcracker!" the man cheered.

I opened my eyes to find Sam holding his crotch.

"Sam?" Dean's voice was quiet, trying not to bring attention to their conversation.

Sam responded with a grunt as the man and a lady on one side of me went to the side to begin talking in Japanese.

"You okay?" Dean looked at the ball in front of him and he shrunk back in fear. "Shawna, could you get us out of here?"

"Yeah," I grunted, trying to move from the spot, but my legs were stuck to the ground. "Dean! I can't move!" I struggled more against the invisible force sticking me to the ground. The more I struggled though, the more my legs burned from the pressure of trying to move them.

I heard a noise behind me and noticed flashing lights.

"Oh now what?" Dean grumbled.

The doors flung open to reveal Castiel.

"Cas?"

I tried to move to get to him, ignoring the burning sensation.

"Is this another trick?" Sam still looked like he was in pain from the hit.

"It's me. Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Us? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. You've been missing for days."

"So get us the hell out of here, then!" Sam's frustrated voice shouted.

"Get the kid first!" Dean added.

"Huh?" I looked from Sam to Dean. "No, get the-" I stopped talking realizing that the host's attention was now shifting to us.

Castiel grabbed my arm. "Let's go."

The host raised his arm.

"Stay safe," I whispered to Castiel as the man's fingers snapped. Right before me, Castiel's body disappeared.

"Cas?!" Dean was panicked, but I knew there was nothing we could do.

"No, no, no, no. Mr. Trickster does not like pretty-boy angels." the host was shaking his head while walking back to the center of the stage. He pulled another card from his pocket. "Dean Winchester." He spoke in Japanese before shouting "countdown!"

"What do I do, what do I do?"

"What?" Sam asked, still in pain from his failure at answering the question.

"I don't wanna get hit in the nuts."

"I don't know, I, I, uh, just, uh—wait."

"What?"

"I played a doctor."

"What?"

"In, uh, in _Dr. Sexy_ I played a doctor. I operated."

"And I did a C-section!" I added.

They both turned their heads to look at me.

"Focus on the task at hand! I get what you're saying Sam. We need to play the roles that the Trickster wants us to play."

"Yeah," Sam continued. "We should just go along with it."

"Go along with what?" Dean seemed completely clueless.

"With the game! You know, we're on a game show, right? So just answer the question!"

"In Japanese?"

"Yeah!"

"I don't know Japanese!"

"Try!"

I looked back at the countdown and slowly saw it trickling down to 0. "DEAN NOW!" I roared.

"Dammit!" his fist smacked the buzzer with less than a second left.

Dean carefully spoke in Japanese and when the host spoke, he repeated the phrase back.

I held my breathe, hoping he did it right.

"Dean Winchester, Nutcracker champion!" the host flung his cards in the air with a cheesy grin plastered on his face. The crowd began cheering.

"How did you do that?"

"I have no idea."

"So that's it. We play our roles, we survive."

"Yeah, but play our roles for how long?"

I tested my legs in one last attempt of trying to escape and noticed that I could move. "Ha!" I ran over to Sam to try and help him out, but the ground began shaking and my vision became blurry. "Not again!"

Sam grabbed the back of my outfit and as the world began spinning again, I felt his hand there. I felt somewhat safe.

I was on a basketball court when we finally landed. I looked down, expecting a disgusting outfit and- "Holy crap. I'm a dude."

"Play your role," Dean hissed as I grabbed the basketball from his hands.

Sam and other people went on to talk about genital herpes and I nearly vomited imagining the sores that it causes.

I closed my eyes then opened them and we were in a new place.

"We now return to _Supernatural_ ," Dean's voice echoed around the set.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean repeated as the laugh track sounded once again.

"Uh, I am really, really, very sorry, but, uh, we've got some work to do." Sam walked over to the women and led her out the door.

"But we did do work! In depth," the lady smiled at Dean.

Dean waved goodbye before doing a cheesy smile.

"How long do we have to keep doing this?" he spoke through gritted teeth.

"I don't know," Sam replied. "Maybe forever?"

Laughing began again.

"We might die in here."

The laughing grew louder.

"How was that funny? Vultures."

I walked over to the sink, to begin washing dishes. "Cas will save us. He has to."

With that word, I heard the creak of the door opening and I spun around. Applause sounded as Castiel stepped into the room, his face injured and bleeding. I grabbed the nearest towel and put water on it.

"I don't have much time," his voice was firm.

I took the towel and ran to Cas, applying it to the wound on his nose.

"What happened?" Sam was concerned.

"I got out."

"From where?" Dean began moving towards Cas.

"Listen to me. Something is not right. This thing is much more powerful than it should be."

"What thing—the Trickster?"

"If it is a trickster."

"Oh my god," I spoke over Sam. One word popped into my head: _Angel._ "It's-" I was cut off as I felt myself flung towards a wall. Out of thin air, rope appeared, binding my hands together. Duct tape covered my mouth. I looked at Castiel to find him in the same situation as I was.

"Hello!" a man, who I assumed to be the Trickster, entered the stage, his face filled with joy.

I can't explain it, but I felt something when he entered. Something strong, powerful. It doesn't make sense, but I knew my suspicions were right. _But how? I'm human. I shouldn't have felt anything._

Applause greeted the Trickster. "Thank you. Thank you, ladies."

I looked to Cas to find him glaring at the man, rage filling his eyes.

"Hi, Castiel! Oh and Shawna. Boy did I underestimate you! Oh wow!" his eyes lit up. "That's a surprise!" He moved his hands towards us and in one swift motion, we were gone.

Blackness and cold air surrounded me. "Castiel!"

"I'm here," his monotone voice sounded from right next to me.

I reached out my hand in that general direction until I felt him. "W-what'd he mean by I'm special?"

"I'm… not sure. Something is definitely different about you…"

"What's different?" Silence. "Cas?"

"Stay here. I'm finding a way out."

I crouched into a ball while biting my lip. _I'm different? None of this is making sense. Maybe it's because I'm a Winchester?_

What felt like hours passed before I saw light again. It was a quick setting change and I arrived disorientated in the warehouse. I almost fell before Sam helped me stand up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just dizzy is all."

"Cas, you okay?" Dean's voice said from beside me. I looked over to find Cas, anger filling his face while he stared at the Trickster who was in the center of the room.

"I'm fine. Hello, Gabriel."

 _Gabriel? I'd figured out he was an angel, but Gabriel? The Gabriel?_

"Hey, bro. How's the search for Daddy going? Let me guess. Awful."

Castiel glared at Gabriel before Dean spoke up. "Okay, we're out of here. Come on, Sam."

Dean began walking away.

"Uh. Okay. Guys?"

I remained silent. _Angel or not maybe he deserves this fate._

Sam, supporting me, followed after Dean.

"So, so what? Huh?"

Castiel's soft footsteps soon began right behind us.

"You're just gonna, you're gonna leave me here forever?"

We all stopped and Dean turned to face him.

"No. We're not, 'cause we don't screw with people the way you do. And for the record? This isn't about some prize fight between your brothers or some destiny that can't be stopped. This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family."

Dean pulled the fire alarm and water sprinkled down from the ceiling.

"Don't say I never did anything for you."

"Wait! Wait!" Gabriel begged as Dean entered out the door first.

I stopped moving while Sam tried to push me forward.

"Keep her safe! Don't let her get hurt! Sh-" he was cut off by the noise of Castiel slamming the warehouse door.

The bright sun blinded me momentarily. "I'm fine, Sam."

He released his grip on me, so I slowly walked to the Impala. I climbed into the front seat, blasted the radio, and put my feet up on the dashboard.

"Why you!" I heard Dean shout as he ran towards his car.

I closed my eyes with a smile on my tired face.


	8. The Real Ghostbusters

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in a while! I've had some personal health issues, but hopefully I'll start uploading more chapters on a regular basis soon.**

The Impala roared up to the hotel. My heart race was fast, worried about what was happening to Chuck.

"What the heck?" Dean seemed somewhat annoyed.

I bolted upright in my seat, looking around. There was a whole line of Impalas in front of us.

"Hey. Come on." I couldn't tell if Sam was angry or worried, but these days was there even a difference?

We all hopped out of the car as we spotted Chuck, pacing back and forth in front of the impalas.

"Chuck! There you are."

He looked at us, surprised. "Guys?"

"What's going on," Dean's voice was gruff and impatient.

"Ah, nothing. You know, I'm just kinda hanging. What are you guys doing here?"

I looked from Sam to Dean, confused on what was going on.

"You told us to come."

"Ah, no I didn't."

"Yeah you did, you texted me. This address, life or death situation. Any of this ringing a bell?" Sam crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly annoyed.

"I didn't send you a text." Chuck furrowed his brows in frustration.

"We drove all night!" Dean shouted.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what could...oh no."

I spotted it. The blonde chick who had talked about some stupid books written about Sam and Dean. "Oh crap."

"What?" Dean didn't move his eyes to notice the girl.

"SAM! You made it!" the girl squealed.

"Oh, ah, Becky, right?" Sam was trying to be casual, but not invite her over to us. He failed...

She ran down to us, with a smile plastered onto her annoying face. "Oh, you remembered." Her voice lowered when she spoke again. "You've been thinking about me." Her smile turned into a grin.

"Oh god," I muttered, stepping behind Dean so that I didn't have to deal with her nonsense.

"I…" Sam was speechless.

"It's ok, I can't get you out of my head either."

I faked a puking noise from behind Dean.

Becky leaned her head behind Dean and poked me in the side, causing me to scream. "You're just acting like this because you have feelings for him too, but he-"

"Becky stop! He's my brother!"

"So what?"

"Oh my gosh. Just take a chill pill because I am definitely not into my own brother."

"Becky, did you take my phone?" Chuck spoke up, trying to help with this awkward situation.

"I just borrowed it from your pants."

"Becky…"

"What? They're going to want to see it!"

"See what?" Sam and Dean's voice sounded at exactly the same time.

"Oh My God. I love it when they talk at the same time!" she giggled.

A man walked to the top of the stairs with a clipboard in his hand. "Hey Chuck? Come on pal, it's showtime."

Becky grabbed my hand, dragging me up the stairs. "You are going to be the best sister in law ever."

"Help!" I mouthed at Sam and Dean while nearly falling down the stairs.

"Becky let me go!" I struggled to get out of her grasp as we entered into a room filled with people in costumes.

"It'll be fun. Come on." She led me through mazes of people before I realized they were dressed up as monsters and- _Why were they dressed up like Sam, Dean, and Bobby?!_

"Nice female Dean cosplay," a middle aged man said while winking at me.

"Oh it's not a costume. I'm Dean's sister."

"Ooh fanfiction is a brewing."

"No. I'm actually Dean's sister."

"Come to my room later and you can tell me all about that fanfiction." He smiled before walking away with a beer in his hand.

"Becky, get me out of here."

Becky let go of my hand and shoved me into a group of people.

"Look! A female Dean!"

"No! I'm n-"

They all spoke over me while sipping their beers.

"Stop it!" I slapped a man's hand as it went towards me.

Twenty minutes later, they finally stopped talking about me and had gone into another room. I grabbed the nearest half drunk beer, smelled it and gagged before chugging it.

I grabbed another one before entering into the room that the men went into. I quickly spotted Sam and Dean in the back of the room. They were listening to a man who was speaking at the front of the stage.

I slid next to my brothers.

"I thought you didn't drink," Sam whispered.

"Do you know how many guys tried to hit on me just now? Desperate times call for desperate measures." I took another sip, nearly puking from the awful taste.

"But right now, right now I'd like to introduce the man himself. The creator, the writer of the supernatural books. The one, the only, Carver Edlund!" The crowd burst into applause as the announcer presented Chuck.

He walked onto the stage slowly, acting somewhat shy.

I looked at Sam and Dean only to find their mouths in a hard line with their brows furrowed.

Chuck slowly stopped walking as he approached the microphone. "Ok. Ok good, this isn't nearly as awkward as I…" Chuck attempted to clear his throat before mumbling "dry mouth" into the mic. He grabbed a bottle of water and took one long, noisy gulp.

I rolled my eyes as I lifted the beer to my mouth.

"I think that's enough," Dean whispered, grabbing it from my hand and finishing it off for me.

"Ok. Uh… ahem. So I guess… questions?" Chuck spoke again.

People immediately raised their hands, excitement evident from their waving arms.

"Uh… you?" Chuck pointed to a man, seemingly overwhelmed by the amount of questions he would have to answer.

"Hey, Mr. Edlund," the man began speaking as soon as his feet hit the ground. "Uh… big fan. I was just wondering, where'd you come up with Sam and Dean in the first place?"

"Prophet, right?" I spoke just below a whisper, trying not to be overhead.

Sam nodded his head 'yes' while Chuck looked towards us.

"Oh, ah, I… it just came to me."

I stifled a laugh. _Idiot._

Hands shot in the air again.

"Ok. Yeah. The hook man."

The hook man's accent was so thick that I could barely make it out what he was saying. "Ah yeah. Why in every fight scene, Sam and Dean are having their gun knocked away by the bad guy? Why don't they keep it on some sort of bungee?"

I let out a loud laugh before all the eyes in the room turned towards me. I raised my hands in surrender. Their attention turned back to Chuck.

"I… yeah, I really don't know."

"Ja, follow up. Why can't Sam and Dean be telling that Ruby is evil? I mean she is clearly manipulating Sam into some kind of moral lapse. It's obvious, nein?"

Sam's face filled with rage. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Becky move, her face mad too.

"Becky no," I hissed, grabbing her arm.

She shook me off and stormed over to the hook man. "Hey! If you don't like the books don't read em Fritz."

"Ok, ok, just… okay, it's okay. So, next question," Chuck desperately tried to end the dispute and chose a new person.

"Yeah, af the end of the last book, Dean goes to hell. So what happens next?"

I looked at Dean, confused.

"Another time," he mouthed back to me.

"Oh well there lies an announcement, actually. You're all going to find out."

Chuck looked towards my brothers.

"Thanks to a wealthy Scandinavian investor, we're going to start publishing again."

Everyone began cheering as Sam and Dean's face reddened in anger. Dean began storming up to the front of the room, Sam grabbing at his arm.

"Dean! Wait!" I shouted.

More than ten people spun around to look at me.

Sam used this momentary pause in the commotion to drag Dean outside.

"He can't! He can't do this!" Dean roared. "These people know every little detail of our lives. They CAN'T know more."

"I know," Sam seemed defeated.

"We have to find some other way to deal with this."

People began filing out of the auditorium, forcing me to speak a little louder. "You try and stop Chuck and these people," I motioned to everyone around us. "Are going to attack you."

"I have a better plan." Sam began walking and we followed.

Chuck was sitting down with Becky. They both had a drink in their hand. Their conversation was quickly interrupted when Becky spotted us.

"Oh, hi Sam!"

Dean looked to Becky, "excuse us." He then turned his attention to Chuck. "In case you haven't noticed, our plates are kind of full, ok? Finding the Colt, hunting the devil. We don't have time for this crap."

I felt a hand slide across my lower back and I quickly stomped on the foot behind me.

"Hey, I didn't call you!" Chuck protested.

I rolled my eyes at this pathetic excuse of a prophet.

"He means the books, Chuck. Why are you publishing more books?"

"Um… for food and shelter?"

Dean attempted to get closer to Chuck, but I grabbed the back of his shirt, watching to make sure that no one saw. "Who gave you the rights to our life story?"

"An Archangel, and I didn't want it!"

"Well, deals off, ok. No more books. Our lives are not for public consumption."

Fear and sadness filled Becky's eyes as she turned to face Chuck.

"Ask that stupid archangel of yours to take care of you," I muttered.

"Ah… Becky, would you excuse us for just a second?"

"Uh-huh!" she nodded her head.

Chuck began leading us into the hallway.

"Do you know what I do for a living?"

"Yeah Chuck, we know."

"Then could you tell me? Cause I don't, alright? I'm not a good writer. I've got no marketable skills. I'm not some hero who can just hit the road and fight monsters, ok? Until the world ends, I gotta live, alright? And the Supernatural books are all I've got. What else do you want me to do?"

We didn't get a chance to respond before a scream sounded around the building.

I grabbed my knife and began running after Sam and Dean who had somehow managed to get way ahead of me. I faintly heard Chuck yell something at us, but I ignored it. Someone was in danger.

A lady was on the floor in the upstairs hallway. Sam got to her first and began helping her up. "Hey, are you ok?"

Dean and I looked around the room, checking to see what might've scared her.

"I think so."

"What happened?" Dean turned his attention to the woman. She was wearing an odd dress that looked somewhat ancient ( _or at least ancient to me. Who am I to judge her?_ )

"I saw a ghost."

Two men began approaching, so I quickly slid my knife into my pocket.

"A ghost?" One of the men spoke up, but his voice seemed odd… "Could you tell us what it looked like?"

"Why don't you leave this to the grownups pal." Dean tried to shove the guy away.

"Trust me. We've got the hang of this." I kept my hand on the knife, prepared to strike at any of these perverts if need be.

"Did she say something to you?" a man's voice sounded from behind me.

The lady smiled. "Ok," she raised her voice so that everyone could hear. "Gather close everybody, for a terrifying tale of terror. I saw… a ghost!"

Sam shook his head and began following after Dean, already half way down the hall. I followed after them.

"Oooo, the larping's started," Becky ran up to Sam and Dean, smiling.

"Becky, this isn't the time for larping," I said while remembering the cringe worthy time when I did a fairy larp.

"The… what is that again?" Dean looked utterly confused.

"Live action role playing? It's a game. The convention puts it on." Becky's face was lit with enthusiasm as she handed Sam a paper.

"Dad's journal. Dead Sam and Dean, this hotel is haunted. You must hunt down the ghost, interview witnesses, discover clues, and find the bones. First team to do so wins a $50 gift card to Sizzler. Love Dad." A frown spread across sam's tired face.

"You guys are soooo gunna win."

About an hour later, we were listening to the manager tell everyone that some girl killed four kids then herself. _Probably all made up._ I groaned. I thought I might actually get to kill a ghost or something this time.

"Well that's just about all the community theatre I can take." Dean crossed his arms over his chest and turned around to face us.

"Yeah, this cannot get any weirder." Sam had his hands crossed over his chest too, frustrated.

One of the men from the 'ghost' fiasco earlier walked by us while using his fake voice, he began to speak. "Dad said… he said I may have to kill you."

I looked at Sam, wide eyed.

Another men, dressed like Sam, responded. "Kill me? What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"Oh…"

Sam looked to Dean, before they both said in unison, "I need a drink."

Sam and Dean ordered drinks, but when I tried, the lady refused.

"Fake ID. I've seen them a lot tonight. I can get you a Shirley Temple though."

"Fine."

The lady dressed as the ghost walked in and sat near us, she was furiously texting on her phone.

Our drinks arrived and Dean quickly chugged his. Sam stared at his drink.

"You okay, Sam?" I whispered.

"Fine. Don't worry about it."

"Well if you need to talk, I'm here."

"Tha-" Sam stopped talking when Dean began.

"How you doing?" he asked the 'ghost'.

"Busy," she said, not looking up from her phone.

"Well you sure look lovely tonight. Especially for a dead chick."

I let out a small laugh resulting in Dean elbowing me in the stomach.

"Buddy, I have heard that line 17 times tonight, ok? And all from dudes wearing MacGyver jackets…" she looked up from her phone. A smile slowly spread across her face. "But you seem different."

"How so?"

"Well, you don't seem scared of women."

I took a noisy sip of my Shirley Temple.

"For the last time I'm not making this up, ok? She's upstairs, a real live dead ghost." a voice sounded around the room.

I looked up from my drink.

"I don't think that guy's a good enough an actor to be acting." Dean stood up, leaving the girl surprised.

"Sam, come on." He was staring at his drink, not wanting to move. "Sam please."

He finally stood up.

"Why yes agents Jagger and Richards. As manager of this fine establishment I can assure you it is indeed haunted." The manager of the event was giving his usual spiel to some of the LARPers, but we slid right past him to the hotel manager.

"Excuse us, mind if we ask you a few questions?" Dean tried to be quiet, not wanting to attract any attention.

"Look, I don't have time to play Star Wars, guys. Go ask the guy in the ascot."

Dean discreetly slid fifty dollars over to the man. "Actually we ah...really want to talk to you."

"Ok. You guys are really into this."

Sam rolled his eyes. "You have no idea."

"What do you want to know?"

"All this stuff they're saying. This place being haunted. Leticia Gore. Any truth to it?"

"We generally don't like to publicise this to...normal people...but yeah. 1909 this place was called 'Gore Orphanage'. Miss Gore, killed four boys with a butchers knife, then offed herself."

I chill went down my back, making me shiver.

"And is tonight really her anniversary?" Dean pressed on.

"Yep, guess your convention folks want authenticity."

"There been any sightings?" Sam lowered his voice.

"Yep, over the years. A few maids have quit saying they heard the boys or saw them. A janitor even saw Miss Gore once."

"Where did Miss Gore carve up the kids?"

"Look, I don't want you stomping all over the joint. A lot of this place is off limits to nerds."

Dean slid over another fifty dollars.

"The attic," the man whispered.

"Thanks," I whispered back as we turned around to head up to the attic.

I crawled through the small doorway first and coughed at the dust.

"Careful!" I shouted down at them while turning on my flashlight.

"The EMF's going nuts," Sam whispered as he stepped into the attic, a beeping noise sounding from the EMF machine.

"Great. We got a real ghost, and we got a bunch of dudes pretending to be us poking at it." Dean slowly slid in after Sam.

"No way this ends well."

"Yeah, well, serves them right."

"Dean…"

"Our job is to save _everyone_ ," I said, glaring at Dean. _The people here were a bunch of pricks, but they sure as hell didn't deserve to die._

We continued looking in silence. I stuck next to Sam, unsure of what I was supposed to do if a real ghost appeared.

A few minutes later, I stumbled upon a young boy. My heart began pounding in my chest.

"Sam," I hissed.

"My mommy loves me."

Sam spun around to look at the boy.

"I said my mommy loves me."

Dean walked up to us, keeping his hand gripped at the gun in his pocket.

"I'm sure she does," Sam replied.

"My mommy loves me this much!" the boy moved his hand off of his head, revealing his injured head which appeared to have been scalped.

I gagged as the boy disappeared. "What the hell?"

"Ghosts… they appear as they looked when they were dead. Come on." Dean led the way out of the attic and back to the main room.

Dean and I sat at a table together while Sam began dialing a number.

"You like all this?" Dean questioned.

"Erm… I like helping people I guess."

He shook his head. "It ain't pretty, but it's what we gotta do."

I sighed and laid my head on the table. Dean put his hand on my shoulder and rubbed it like what a 'normal' older brother might do..

Dean moved his hand and I quickly sat up in my seat.

"All right. So that was a guy with the County Historical Society." Sam sat down next to us.

"And...?"

"Not only did Leticia Gore butcher four boys, but one of them was her own son."

"Her son."

"That's messed up," I covered my mouth with my hands.

"Yeah. According to the police at the time, she scalped the kid." Sam crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh that's it, I'm gunna deep fry this bitch extra crispy. Dude say where she was buried?"

"He doesn't know."

I was struck silent by this monstrosity of a woman.

"Check it out. There's the orphanage, here's the carriage house, and right there... cemetery," a fake voice said from behind us.

My brothers and I stood up.

"You think that's where Leticia's buried?"

We walked towards the men.

"It's worth a shot."

Sam reached his hand out to grab the map that the men were looking at, but one of them immediately pulled it back.

"Hey, hey!"

"Hey, do you mind?"

"It's real. A century old, at least, and he's right, there is a cemetery on the grounds," Sam tried to keep his voice quiet, making sure that the guys didn't overhear.

"They're going to get themselves killed," I hissed, staring straight into one of the guy's eyes.

"Where'd you get that," Dean demanded.

"It's called a game pal. It ain't called charity."

"Yeah right. Gimme the map, Chuckles."

"Yeah well you're the Chuckles, Chuckles. Besides, Dean don't listen to nobody."

The man who was arguing with Dean pulled back his jacket to reveal a fake gun sticking out of his pocket.

"Dean! Cool it," the other man tried to stop the conflict.

Dean rolled his eyes before pulling out his own gun.

"Dean!" Sam shouted.

"What! They're freakin' annoying."

I snatched the gun from Dean and shoved it in my back pocket. "You want to get yourself arrested?"

"Been there done that," Dean said with an annoyed laugh.

"Look, guys. We all wanna find the bones right? We just thought...it would go faster if we all worked together." Sam attempted to be the voice of reason.

The two men looked at each other before speaking up. "Ahem. We..ah...we get the sizzler gift card."

Dean rolled his eyes yet again. "Fine."

"And we get to be Sam and Dean."

I burst out laughing, but Sam quickly elbowed me in the side.

"You can be Ruby if you want," one of them suggested. This time I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. You can be Sam and Dean," Dean grumbled.

As we stepped out into the cold night, I handed Dean back his gun. "Be careful with it. They've probably never seen a real gun before."

Dean nodded his head in understanding as I pulled my thin jacket tighter across my body.

"I'm going to keep my eye on them." I ran up to the two LARPers.

"Hey, Rufus, Bobby, would you hurry it up?" the men said.

"Oh my gosh. What have I gotten myself into?" I slapped my hand onto my forehead.

"If you aren't going to larp with us, you might as well just be quiet."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

"So where were we?" one of them asked.

"Ah, Dr Ellicott just zapped your brain."

"Right, got it. Ahem," he took a deep breath to deepen his voice. "Why are we even here Dean? You just follow dad's footsteps like a good little soldier? You that desperate for approval?"

"This isn't you talking Sam."

I fell behind with Sam and Dean, letting myself tune out of everyone's conversations as I trudged along in the cold night air.

"... That's it," I heard Dean shout and I looked up from the ground to see anger filling Dean's face.

"What's wrong, Bobby?"

Dean took a deep breath before letting loose. "I'm not Bobby, ok? You're not Sam. You're not Dean. What is wrong with you? Why in the hell would you choose to be these guys?

"Because we're fans. Like you," one of them responded with a quiver of fear evident in his voice.

"No. I am not a fan, ok. In fact, I think that the Dean and Sam story sucks. It is not fun. It is not entertaining. It is a river of crap that would send most people howling to the nut house. So you listen to me, their pain is not for your amusement. I mean do you think they enjoy being treated like… like circus freaks."

"Dean…" I whispered, trying to get him to calm down.

"Uh… I don't think they care because they're **fictional characters!** "

"Oh they care. Believe me. They care a lot." Dean stormed off.

I looked to Sam before running after Dean. "Dean! Wait!" I shouted.

He refused to turn his back around to look at me. "Dean, they don't know and they would probably never believe you if you told them the tru-"

Dean spun around and slapped me in the face. There was a moment of shock before the pain kicked in. "Sorry," he grumbled. "I just can't take this anymore."

I fell back to Sam, unsure of what to do or where to go.

It felt like nearly an hour before we finally reached the cemetery.

"I found the four boys," Dean immediately said, shining his flashlight over some gravestones.

"And here's Leticia Gore," Sam stared down at a grave.

"This is disgusting. I'm not going to help dig today." I held a hand to my stomach and one to my mouth, feeling slightly nauseous.

"Ah… what are you guys doing?"

"We're looking for bones genius. They gotta be around here somewhere," one of the guys said with his 'deep' voice.

"Ok. Generally, bones are in the ground."

Sam dropped his bag to the ground.

"Yeah, I know that. I just…"

Sam pulled his shovel out of the bag and I watched as the utter horror and realization filled the man's terrified face. "Wait, hold on. Are you guys serious?"

"Deadly," Dean grinned.

"We're not really digging up graves you guys, we're just playing a game."

"Trust us. You wanna win the game, right?"

"We play a hard game to beat," I laughed, trying to relieve the tension.

Dean quickly dug up the grave to find the coffin. He grunted as he lifted the coffin lid up.

One of the men gagged. "I feel you," I muttered under my breath.

"That's not a plastic skeleton. That's a… that's a **skeleton** skeleton."

"You just dug up a real grave," the other one who'd been quiet for a while spoke up.

"Yeah." Dean wiped sweat off his forehead.

"You guys are nuts."

"I thought you guys wanted to be hunters," Sam smiled.

"Hunters aren't real man. This isn't real." The men began to walk away as one of them began to talk and was abruptly caught off.

"What?" Sam looked confused as to why they didn't leave yet.

"Naughty, naughty, naughty!" a women's voice said from behind Sam. Leticia Gore stood next to Sam and slapped him. He flew across the cemetery.

"Sam!" I panicked and grabbed the shovel. "Get… away… from here!" I screamed while swishing the shovel at her.

"Naughty, naughty, naughty!" she said again. I prepared for the worst, but she soon flickered away from me.

"Sam!" I quickly ran to him. He was out cold, but knowing Sam, he would come to it soon. I slid my hand under his head to support him.

Screaming sounded from behind us and soon I heard Leticia's terrified screams as her body burned.

Sam blinked open his eyes. "Dang," he groaned.

Sam and Dean wanted a few shots at the bar, so I decided to use the restroom then head to the Impala to rest.

I yawned and looked into the bathroom mirror. My hands splashed water onto my tired face, but as I blinked open my eyes, a boy was behind me. I spun around, but he was gone.

"Weird…"

I turned to open the door, but it refused to budge. "Dangit." I lifted my leg up to knock down the door and screamed as soon as my leg jammed into the door. "OW OW OW! They make it look so easy!" I groaned.

I stepped back from the door, took a deep breath, and used my shoulder to ram down the door. My shoulder immediately ached with pain, but the door opened..

I walked downstairs and the boys immediately nodded in my direction then pointed at the door to go. As much as I wanted to go, I shook my head 'no'.

Dean, clearly ignoring me, walked up to Chuck. "Hey Chuck. Good luck with the Supernatural books, and screw you very much."

The boys continued to the door, so I ran towards Chuck. "Something's not right," I muttered.

"I feel ya," Chuck responded, looking really sad.

Sam reached for the door handle, but soon found the door locked. They both slammed their shoulders against the door and it still remained closed.

"That's weird." Dean looked around the room, trying to find another exit.

"Definitely," Sam replied, lost in thought.

"The bathroom door was locked as well. What if we got the wrong ghost?"

"Impossible," Dean's voice was stern. "She was torturing the boys. We got the right one. Now split up and go find a way out of this place."

I followed Sam as he walked around the hotel, trying to find a way out.

"Sam, I need to tell you something."

"Yeah and what's that?" he grunted while trying to pull open a window.

"There was a boy in the mirror when I went to the bathroom. Not Leticia. A boy. Maybe we burned the wrong body?"

"Well that's just great. Let's go tell Dean." Sam gloomily left the window to find Dean.

"You can talk to me about… anything if you need to," I offered yet again.

"Really, I appreciate the help, but Lucifer isn't the one trying to use your body as a host. Let's go."

I remained silent as we walked to Dean. He too was at another window and was having no luck opening it.

"Hey. Anything," Dean took one last tug at the window before giving up.

"I-" I started, but Sam cut me off:

"Every exit's locked. Almost like…"

"I tol-"

"Something's keeping us in?"

"Ugh!" I groaned.

"Yeah. This is bad."

"Gee ya think, Sammy?"

A scream sounded and the guys darted. "I tried to tell you that you got the wrong ghost!" I shouted before trailing after them.

"Don't go in there!" she yelled, pure terror filling her face.

"Get downstairs ok? Go go!" Dean shrieked, walking into the library.

The boy from the attic was sitting in the corner, holding his head.

"Why'd you do that? Why did you send my mommy away?" his voice was so sad. My heart ached, longing to do something to help him.

"Ah, maybe because of the high and tight she gave you, huh? How bout some thanks."

"Ahem," Sam cut in.

"Well, I'm just saying a little gratitude might be nice once in a while."

"My mommy didn't this to me." The boy refused to look up at us as he spoke.

"What? Then who did?" Sam looked at the boy.

"It was the other boys, wasn't it?" the boy took a glance at me before disappearing. "If you guys had just listened to me! One of them was in the bathroom with me."

"Then how are you still here?" Dean questioned with a forceful tone.

"I don't know. Why are ghosts real?"

"Point taken I guess," Dean shrugged.

Another scream alerted our attention. We booked it out of the library to find a man with a hook laying on the ground, his head scalped.

"We need to tell Chuck."

Sam nodded his head in agreement. We ran down the stairs and to the auditorium. My heart was pounding in my chest.

Sam ran up to the stage and began whispering into Chuck's ear.

"Hey… what? Holy crap."

The audience made noises across the room.

I looked to Dean to find out what to do next, but he was lost in thought.

"Ok. So ahh, good news. I got much more to tell you… I guess."

Sam ran back to us as Dean ushered some of the hotel staff inside the room.

"Buddy, I got work to do," the hotel manager said as Dean pressed on his back to shove him into the room.

"You're gunna want to see this, trust me. It's gunna be a hell of a show."

I nodded my head in agreement with a forced smile on my face.

"Ah, what does the future hold for Sam and Dean?" I heard Chuck say from the stage as Dean tossed me a container of salt and I began pouring it around the doors. "Well, how do you feel about angels? Yeah, because let me tell you, they're not nearly as lame as you think."

I sighed at the stupidity of his 'series'.

"What's the plan?" I asked. Sam and Dean were already in conversation by the time I finished laying salt.

"Well, uh…"

"You're staying here to protect these people," Dean cut to the point.

"Hey!" I protested.

Everyone spun around in their seats to look at me.

"Trust me, Chuck will need your help," Sam whispered.

"Ugh," I groaned.

"Here. It's made of iron." Sam handed me a pole that looked like it came from a lamp.

"Gee, thanks."

"OH! And I need to introduce you to someone! Er… uh… Shawna!" Chuck pointed his hand at me, urging me to come forward.

"Send help," I muttered.

Chuck plasted a fake smile on his face and I could see a drop of sweat roll down his nervous face.

"What do ya want?" I grumbled, shoving the pole behind my back.

Everyone stared up at us, silent, but eagerly anticipating our next words. Becky looked slightly pissed, but I just ignored her.

"Well… um… this is Shawna… and I've already said that… and um… her brothers are, uh, the inspiration for my story."

"Chuck!" I hissed.

Mumbling noises erupted from the crowd.

A girl raised her hand in the crowd and slowly stood up. "Um… Shawna… I have a question."

"Sure, what do you wanna know?"

"Are Sam and De- your brothers… r-r-r-really that muscular?"

I almost choked on the air. "Um no. What? Well, maybe? I haven't known my brothers for that long…"

Everyone went silent. "I mean like my mom died and I sort of like went with my brothers… well my half brothers. My real brother died and- I'm just gonna shut up now."

Chuck was staring at me, confused at what to say. "Um… well… any other questions?"

"I'm gonna watch the door," I whispered in Chuck's ear as he got asked the first question.

"Erm, sir, is it possible to uh get uh the Croatoan virus in the genital area? Because I've been having some really weird marks down there with some dark colored uh… oozing"

"No, there's really no such thing as a Croatoan virus down there. You really should see a doctor."

I gagged and looked around the room at bored faces. A crash sounded outside the room and I had to resist myself from running out there. "Protect the people," I whispered aloud, trying to remind myself.

"Protect the people? What's going on?"

I spun around to face Becky. "Oh… uh… nothing, just like hunting and stuff?"

"Sure," she grinned. "So… can you tell me more about Sam?"

"He has a type and it isn't you."

She huffed then looked back up at the stage. "I have been setting my eyes on someone new recently… I feel bad for Sam now that he won't have me…"

I rolled my eyes. "Becky, please sit down. If this wasn't an emergency, I would've probably slapped you by now, so just calmly focus on the stage and… Chuck… yeah, he's lonely. He might actually like you." I smiled to myself as she went back to her seat.

After what felt like hours, I pulled a chair next to the door and began drifting to sleep.

Images of Adam went through my head. His smile when he picked me up from my first day of middle school. HIs excited eyes when he told me about his first girlfriend…

"Excuse me!" Chuck's voice sounded around the auditorium. "You really can't leave. Please sir."

I hopped up out of my seat to find the hotel manager moving towards the door.

"You can't open the door!" I threw my body across the door, attempting to stop him.

The man shoved me to the side and I toppled over my chair.

"Don't open that door!" Chuck screamed.

I grabbed the metal pipe and stood up as soon as the man swung the door open. My heart raced as I saw particles of the salt line moving away from the area.

The man stepped his foot forward as a boy appeared in the doorway, a knife in his hand.

The hotel manage jumped back. I slowly approached the door. "Sweetie, let's be nice here, okay?" I said before realizing my stupidity: _I was trying to reason with a ghost.._

The boy lifted his knife and people in the crowd gasped. My hands gripped tightly around the pole as I swung it at the boy. It slid right through him before he disappeared. I grabbed the door and slammed it shut, glaring at the hotel manager.

"I said nobody leaves damn it," Chuck's tired face was filled with rage. "Now someone salt the door!"

"Anyone got any salt?!" I hollered.

Someone raised their hand and ran to me. "Wow… it's like you're a real hunter," a young man whispered while handing me his jar of salt that was for his costume.

I yanked the jar away from his hand and poured it in a new line in front of the door.

 _Hurry up guys._

After another hour of boring questions, the door to the auditorium opened. I raised the pipe, prepared to attack, but Dean walked in.

"Hey squirt," he ruffled my hair with his hand before nodding his head at Chuck.

Sam walked in a few seconds later. "Everything okay in heres?"

"Eh… yeah, good enough."

'Let's get going. I don't want to be here much longer." Dean walked out the door and people began coming out behind us.

"Was everything really okay? Sam asked as we stepped into the parking lot, the morning sun shining into our faces.

"Someone tried to leave. A ghost came. Nothing that I couldn't handle," I tried to act confident as I spoke.

"OKay, well my first hunt wasn't easy for me, so if you ever need to talk to anyone. I'm here for you."

"Thanks. I…" I trailed off as Becky walked towards Sam and I, dragging Chuck with her.

"Look Sam. I'm not gunna lie. We had undeniable chemistry. But like a monkey on the sun it was too hot to live. It can't go on. Chuck and I, we found each other. My yin to his proud yang. And well, the heart wants what the heart wants. I'm so so sorry, but you can be happy with Shawna now and feel no guilt about it."

"Oh. My. God. How many times do I have to tell you this?! We're **siblings**."

"Shh, shh, let her believe what she wants. It'll get her off my tail," Sam whispered.

I blew the hair off my face in a huff. "I can't believe you right now," I hissed at Sam.

"Yeah Sam. Sorry," a smile spread onto Chuck's face as he spoke.

Sam attempted to grimace at them both.

"Will you be all right?" Becky asked, with genuine concern in her voice.

Sam took a deep breath before acting like he was sad. "Honestly I don't know. I'll just have to find a way to keep living, I guess."

I stifled a laugh.

"God bless you."

"Ok. Oh, hey. Chuck. If you really wanna publish more books, I guess that's ok with us."

"Wait, but that means I might-" Sam shook his head at me to cut me off.

Chuck's face was filled with excitement. "Wow. Really?"

Sam became serious again. "No not really. We have guns and we will find you."

"Ok, ok. No more books." The color had drained out of Chuck's face.

"See you around."

Sam and I turned to leave, but Becky stopped us.

" Sam! Wait, one more thing. In chapter 33 of Supernatural _Time is on my Side_ , there's that girl Bela? She was British, and a cat burglar."

"Cat burglar?" I laughed. "Tell me about this in the car."

Sam ignored my comment. "Yeah I know."

"She stole the Colt from you and then she said she gave it to Lilith, remember?"

"Yeah."

"Well you know she lied right, she didn't really give it to Lilith."

"Wait, what?"

"Didn't you read the book? There was this one scene where Bela gives the Colt to a demon named Crowley. Lilith's right hand man. And I think her lover too."

"Crowley…" Sam turned to look at Chuck. "Didn't it occur to you to tell us this before?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't remember. I'm not as much of a fan as she is," Chuck sheepishly smiled.

"Becky, tell me everything."

Becky smiled before telling us everything that she knew about this Crowley guy.

"Hey Shawna," Becky said while grabbing my arm.

"Yeah?" I replied, finally feeling some hope again.

"You can have this so that you don't have to wear your brother's shirts all the time." She threw me a shirt with a weird triangle and a rainbow on it.

"Thanks?" I smiled at her before running to the Impala.

The boys had just opened the car doors. "I call shotgun!" I shouted.

"Fine." Sam climbed into the back and I finally got to sit in the front.

"Let's go get Lucifer," I grinned.


	9. Sam, Interrupted

"What do you mean Jo and Ellen are dead?" I demanded as we climbed into the Impala.

Sam hadn't said anything since they returned from their last 'let's kill Lucifer' trip. As per usual, they had left me behind in the hopes that I wouldn't die.

"Hellhound." Dean took a big gulp of air. "We have another case to work on. We," he took another breath of air, "have to move on."

I sighed and looked out the window as Dean started the car.

 _Dead just like Ad-_ I bit my cheek in order to stop my train of thought. Remembering him only brought me pain and sorrow, things that I couldn't afford to have now.

We traveled in silence for a few hours before Dean began talking.

"Sam, we're getting close. We need the rundown."

Sam stared out the window, deep in thought.

"Hey, Sam," Dean snapped his fingers. "Sammy!" he slapped Sam's legs and he did a little jump.

"Oh, uh, right. Glenwood Springs Psychiatric Hospital. There's some supernatural activity there. We need to get in as patients."

"And how do we do that?" I sat up in the back seat, taking in our surroundings. I'd never been to this city before.

"Act our usuals selfs, I suppose." Dean didn't take his eyes of the road.

"Dean, we can't-"

"Yes, we can," Dean cut Sam off. "I mean who, honest to God, would believe all the crap that's happened in our life. I mean really."

"I suppose so," Sam huffed.

"Leave the weapons in the car when we get there."

We traveled the rest of the way in silence.

As we approached the hospital, I grabbed my hair and tried to mess it up the best I could. _Gotta look the part, right?_

We were immediately escorted into a room with a doctor, but along the way I saw some of the patients; some seemed scared while some seemed rather normal.

"You were referred to me by a Dr. Babar in Chicago?" the doctor asked as we sat down.  
"That's right."  
"Isn't there a children's book about an elephant named Babar?"

A laugh slid out and I got the evil eye from Sam.  
"I don't know. I don't have any elephant books. Look, Doctor, I-I-I think the doc was in over his head with this one" Dean pointed to Sam. "'Cause my brother is…" Dean wiggled his finger in a 'crazy sign' while whistling. I nodded my head quickly in agreement.  
"Okay, fine, thank you. That's- that's really not necessary." The doctor grabbed his notepad. "Why don't you tell me how you're feeling, Alex?"  
Sam sighed before speaking. "I'm fine. I mean, okay, a little depressed, I guess."

"Aren't we all?" I groaned.  
The doctor ignored me and wrote on his notepad.  
"Okay. Any idea why?" he said, addressing Sam.  
"Probably because I started the apocalypse."  
The doctor looked up from his notepad. "The apocalypse?"

"Yeah, that's right."  
Dean smiled.

"And you think you started it?"  
"Well, yeah, I mean… I killed this demon, Lilith, and I accidentally freed Lucifer from hell. So now, he's topside, and we're trying to stop him."

I laughed, causing the doctor to glare at me before speaking again.  
"Who is?" the doctor asked.  
"Me. A-and him. And my sister." Sam pointed to Dean then me. "And this one angel."  
"Oh, you mean, like a...like an angel on your shoulder."  
"No. His name's Castiel. He wears a trench coat."  
The doctor began taking more notes.  
"See what I mean, Doc? The kid's been beating himself up about this for months. The apocalypse wasn't his fault," Dean said.

"It's not?" The doctor looked stunned.  
"No. There was this other demon, Ruby. She got him addicted to demon blood, and near the end, he was practically chugging this stuff."  
Sam dropped his gaze to the ground as the doctor looked to him then Dean.  
"My brother's not evil. He was just.. .high… yeah? So, could you fix him up so we can get back to traveling around the country and hunting monsters?"  
"And what about your sister? Why is she here?"

"Oh, well my mom and brother died a-and something took my mom's form and hit me before these two guys came and said they were my brothers and so I decided to travel with them," I spewed out in one breath.

"I mean, she's not wrong," Dean added.

The doctor held up a finger and dialed a number on a phone before speaking. "Irma… cancel my lunch."

We were stuck in the room for nearly an hour before a nurse came to get us. The nurse smiled cheerily and I rolled my eyes, confused at why she was so happy to have yet some more new patients.

"Doctor Fuller would like to keep you all under observation for a couple of days," the happy nurse said.

"All of us? Me, too?" Dean asked.

"Yes, Sugar. The doctor thinks that would be best."

Sam and Dean both looked at each other and smiled.

We walked a little longer in silence before she stopped at a door.

"Ginny," the nurse read of my fake name. "You'll have your check up in here."

I slowly walked into the room and sat on the table.

A new nurse walked in a few minutes later, a cheery smile on her face.

"We'll have you back with your brothers in no time. First we need blood pressure and vitals, then we can get you in the shower."

"Can we hurry? I want to be with my brothers. After my brother Adam died, I've sort of always wanted to be with my family."

"And how long have you known these brothers?" the nurse grabbed a blood pressure cuff and put it on my arm.

"Less than a year, but they've saved me countless times."

"And you're **sure** they're your brothers?"

"Yeah. Positive. Same dad." Some doubt did linger at the back of my mind, but I tried to ignore it.

"So some thirty year old guys come to your house where you discover that your brother is dead and they claim to be your brothers, too?"

"Yeah, basically."

"None of this seems weird to you?"

"No," I took a deep breath of air.

"I'm just saying maybe they aren't real-"

"Listen, lady!" I cut her off. "Don't you dare accuse my brothers of going anything wrong! You don't," I ripped the machine off my arm, "understand!" I stood up as another nurse entered the room, needle in hand.

"Sweetie, you gotta calm down," the first nurse said, grabbed some tools of the counter.

"No! You're trying to make me question the only family I have left!" I shouted.

The lady with the needle approached me. "It's okay. You'll be calm soon."

I struggled, but the first nurse grabbed my arms as the second injected something into me.

"No, no- I worbn't," I stumbled through my words as I blinked out of consciousness.

I woke up later with no idea where I was.

"Sam! Dean!" I grabbed at my arm where I had been injected to find a bandaid covering the spot, then I slowly sat up. "Hello?!" I called. There was no response.

I found a bracelet was on my wrist. I quickly tried to yank it off, but had no luck.

My head was spinning, but I managed to stand and I soon found the door to be unlocked.

There were no nurses outside my door, so I quickly and quietly began walking down the hallway.

"Sam? Dean?" I hissed as I walked, hoping to run into them. The lights in the hallway made everything look weird.

It didn't take me long before I found my brothers picking at a door.

"Dean!" I screamed as I bolted down the hallway to him.

"Shhh. Saving a life here!" He put his hand up to my face, not even glancing at me. "Hurry up! Come on, hurry up!"

Sam looked back at Dean. "Back off, Dean!" He went silent for a second before realizing I was right behind Dean. "Shawna?"

"Shawna?" Dean spun around to face me.

Sam took Dean's momentary distraction to work on the door's lock more.

"Long story." I half way smiled, but any sign of a smile slid of my face as the door swung open to reveal a man hanging from the ceiling. "Is that-?"

"A dead body…" Sam finished.

I covered my eyes and spun around.

A few hours later, we finally got time to go to where they were holding the bodies.

"And why did you get mad again?" Dean asked in frustration as we entered the room.

"I told you. I don't want to talk about it," I groaned, realizing that the nurse may have been hinting to something true. I shook any thoughts out of my head as Dean walked over to a drawer and pulled out the dead body.

"Oh God," I gagged. "How do you guys get used to this?" I turned away from the body and plugged my nose with my fingers.

"You don't really… Hey, I think I found something," Sam's voice remained calm.

"What do you got?"

I turned around to face them and swallowed back any nausea that I had.

"Right here. Uh, give me a hand." Sam grabbed a long Q-tip and stuck it in next to Ted's ear. It went in rather deep. "This hole goes all the way through to his brain."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Let's find out," Sam said, eyeing some sort of sharp metal object.

"Wait what?"

"Seriously?" Dean questioned.

"You both might want to keep watch."

Dean grabbed my shoulders and steered me out of the room.

"Dean, I have a question."

He slowly closed the door behind us.

"Like an actual question."

"Go ahead." His hands were still on my shoulders and a shiver ran through me.

"Are you really my brother?"

"'Course I am. What're you talking about?" Noises came from the room and Dean's grip tightened on my shoulders.

"But how do you know?"

"Dad's notebook and your Adam's sister."

I nodded my head. "I guess that makes sen-" I went quiet as I heard a door open near us.

Dean quickly let go of my shoulders and we both ran into the room. I gagged at the smell of the dead body.

"Look, his brain's been sucked dry." Sam was holding something small and black in his hand.

"That's fascinating. Somebody's coming," Dean said matter of factly.

Sam quickly put the black thing into the dead body's head.

I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. My heart began racing.

"Hurry!" I whisper-yelled.

Dean pushed the dead body back into its' spot while Sam pulled off his bloody gloves.

I backed away from the door just as it swung up.

"What are you guys doing in here?" the smiling nurse from earlier asked, a smile still plastered onto her face.

Sam looked to Dean then me, but Dean reacted first. By pulling his pants down. "Pudding!"

"Oh. My. Gosh. I'm scarred." I put one hand to my eyes and held the other out as a means to block my view of Dean's butt.

"Alright, come on, you three." The nurse motioned for us to follow her before walking out of the room.

"Crazy works," Dean whispered back to us.

A few hours later we met with Martin, the person who got us to work this case. There were paintings of clowns in front of us.

"Are those original Gacy's?" Dean chuckled.  
"I painted those," Martin replied with a straight face.  
"Back on point, please. Um… so, whatever this thing is-" Sam began, but was soon interrupted by Dean.  
"It's good," Dean said, still preoccupied with the paintings.

I shoved my elbow into his side. "Focus, you bozo!"

"It Slurpees your brain," Sam continued, "Sucks you dry."  
"Yeah, then it makes the deaths look like suicides. Any ideas?" Dean finally clued into the conversation.

"Yeah. A bad one. Meet me in the lobby in five minutes. I need to grab my journal." Martin stormed off without another word.

"I bet it's a mix between a vampire and a zombie," I tried to lighten the mood.

Dean sighed and Sam let out a small laugh.

"Come on." Sam began walking to the lounge and Dean and I soon followed.

We made it to the lounge in no time and quickly found a table with four seats. I sat beside Sam and Dean sat across from us.

"How you holdin' up?" Sam asked me.

I leaned back in my chair and brushed my fingers through my hair. "Good." A few moments passed by in silence before I continued speaking. "I mean good in relative terms…" my voice slowly faded to below a whisper. _Gosh, why am I so awkward?_

"You know, Adam would be proud of you."

"You don't know anything about him," I snapped. I gripped the edge of the table with my fingers.  
"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down," Dean used his hands to lift mine from the table.

"Sorry. I just miss him is all." I turned my head just in time to see Martin arrive and slam his notebook on the table.

"What is it?" Dean asked while looking down at a drawing of a person with weird spikes.  
"Well, I bet you a chicken dinner it's what we're up against… a wraith. They crack open skulls and feed on brain juice."

"Gnarly," I muttered.  
"You ever tangle with one before?" Sam asked.  
"Never. Never wanted to, neither."  
"So, how do we kill it?" I blurted out. All eyes turned towards me. "What? I'm getting the hang of this thing."  
"Well, from what I've heard, silver works. You so much as touch a wraith with the stuff, and the skin will crackle. Now, that's the good news. The bad news is… they can pass as humans."  
Everyone quickly looked around the room.

"It could be any Peter, Paul and Mary in the joint."

"Fantastic. So, how do we find it?" Dean said, clearly frustrated.  
"A mirror. Lore says a wraith will show its true form in a mirror."  
"Okay, well, we just gotta spot check every patient and every staff member."  
Sam nodded before speaking. "Okay. Yeah. But-I mean, what's it doing in a mental hospital?  
"A nuthouse; it's-it's-it's a perfect captive victim pool," Dean stuttered as he spoke, clearly shaken by something.  
"Sure. Who's gonna believe a patient when they say they saw a monster? It's the perfect hunting ground," Martin seemed slightly worried about the situation, but I didn't dare ask why. We had to kill the wraith before another person got killed.

"Sam and I will go find some silver," I said, trying to act confident. "We'll kill the wraith then get outta here."

I quickly stood as straight as I could and began walking. Footsteps alerted me that Sam was following. We got just out of view before I spun around.

I opened my mouth to talk, but Sam beat me to it. "What's gotten into you?"

"What? Me? Nothing." My voice was rushed, but I didn't have time to care. I wanted out of this place.

"What was that back there. Taking charge and everything. It's just… out of the normal."

"I just want to get out of here. I don't want to deal with the nurses. Never too fond of nurses, ya know? When I was younger, I went into the doctor for a blood draw and got a nasty bruise. Been scared ever since." My gaze dropped to the floor.

"Well, okay. If you need anything…"

"I'm fine, Sam," I snapped. "Let's just find the silver and get this over with."

In all honesty, I wasn't fine. The idea that Sam and Dean might not be my real brothers lingered at the back of my brain. _Maybe it's a good thing that I'm at a mental hospital…_ I shook the thought out of my head as Sam slid past me to get to a nurse station.

It took three nurses stations before we got enough. We could've gone to one more, but the nurses were eyeing us as if they knew we were doing something bad. We walked back to Dean and Martin, who were in a nearby hallway.

"Alright, we had to raid three nurses' stations to get these." Sam handed one of the silver 'weapons' to Dean - all we had managed to find were letter openers. "They're only silver-plated, but they should work." Sam handed one to Martin as a woman started walking towards us.  
"Oh, no, no, no. Not today, sweetheart. Come on, keep walking. I…" Dean held out his hands as if to stop the lady, but she ignored Dean and went straight to Sam. She pushed Sam against the wall and began kissing him. Sam awkwardly put his hands against the wall, unsure of what to do.

"Oh, come on. Get a room," I groaned.  
The lady pulled away from Sam to look at Dean. "I want him now. He's larger."  
The woman promptly walked away without another glance.  
"Hm," Dean shrugged. "You've had worse."  
Sam ignored Dean's comment and went back to focusing on the case. "Fuller is on call tonight, so we'll have to hit him after lights out. All four of us."  
"What? No." Martin shoved the letter opener into my hand.  
"Martin, we gotta get past security, past the orderlies, and then cut the boss-man's throat, okay? It's gonna suck start to finish, but we could use the backup."  
"Oh, I can't. I can't."  
Martin began to walk away.  
"We know what happened in Albuquerque," Sam said.  
Martin stopped walking. "You don't know the half of it." He turned to face us. "God, I used to be just like you two. I used to think I was invincible, and then… Well, I found out I'm not."

"Martin, we need you," I held out the letter opener with the hopes that he'd take it.  
"And you're still a hunter," Dean pointed out.  
"No. I'm not. I'm useless. Why do you think I checked myself into the Hotel California? I'd give anything to help you boys, I would. But, I-I can't. I'm sorry. I can't."  
Martin walked away without another glance back.

"Come on. Let's go to our rooms until it's time." Dean began walking away and Sam soon followed, but a hand grabbed my arm, stopping me from going with them.

"We have you in the night session," a nurse said. "It'll began in a few minutes. Come on." The nurse pulled on my arm harder to get me to move.

I quickly slid the letter opener into my pocket before following her.

The room was dimly lit, but I could still see the people around me. There were five women and one man with a nurse sitting at the front of the room. The man sat with his arms wrapped around his knees.

I smiled at the group as I sat down in the only empty chair. It wobbled as I sat on it.

"Welcome, Shawna," the nurse was holding onto a clipboard, a pen was resting on her ear.

I remained silent and it took me a few moments to realize that all eyes were on me. "Oh, hello? Thank you?" I was unsure of what to say and I felt my face go red with embarrassment.

"So, what would you like to talk about today?" the nurse's voice was too calming for my liking.

I shrugged.

"What's bothering you today? We'll start there. Let's go in a circle."

The woman next to me raised her hand to start.

"Sue came out to play yesterday and she got a little angry." The woman pulled up her sleeve to reveal scratches on her arm. "I told Sue not to do any damage, but she has a mind of her own."

"Thank you for sharing, Jennifer," the nurse smiled as she spoke. "We hope to see you more often, Jennifer." The nurse emphasized the name Jennifer.

The woman next to me spoke for a few minutes more, but I spaced out while feeling the cool metal of the letter opener in my pocket.

"What about you, Shawna?"

"Huh? Oh me." I sat straighter in my chair. "Well, uh, I guess my brother and mom died. My other brothers found me and our taking care of me, but they're into some really scary stuff though."

"Your other brothers?" the nurse asked as she took notes.

"Yeah, I have two other brothers. They're patients here, too."

"And you say they found you?"

"Yeah, the things that killed my brother and my mom were about to kill me when my two older brothers showed up."

"And did you know about these men before they showed up?"

"No. I don't want to talk about this more," I huffed.

"Well, thank you for sharing. We'll talk more in individual."

I swallowed any fear that I had down. _They are my brothers_ , I told myself. _We're in a mental hospital. Maybe it's getting to the nurses too…_

I spaced out through the rest of the session. My brain kept thinking about Adam while my mind kept telling me to focus on the present. In the end, the present won and I found myself first out the door at the end of session.

The lights in the hallway were dimmer than they were earlier.

I walked by Sam's room then Dean's and found them both empty. _Oh no._ Butterflies began in my stomach and my breath quickened.

"Time for bed," a nurse reached for my arm, but I shoved past her, my breath quickening.

 _Come on, guys. Where are you?_

I turned a corner and came face to face with another nurse. "Why aren't you in bed?" the nurse asked with a smile.

"I appreciate your work, but people are going to die if you don't let me through." My hands quickly shoved her out of the way and I began running down the hallway.

I stopped at an intersection of hallways, panic setting in. _Come on guys. Say somethi-_

A female scream. It sounded to the right of me. I barreled down the hallway, pulling the letter opener from my pocket.

I found an open door at the end of the hallway. Dean was pinned against the wall by a woman who was screaming. Blood was pouring out of one of her hands.

Dean was holding a weird pointy object, but he quickly dropped it. Blood leaked out from the dull side of the object.

My eyes quickly found Sam, tied down to a bed.

"Sam!" I shouted, unaware of the loudness of my voice.

The lady - the monster - spun to face me. Arms outstretched, she ran towards me.

"Throw it now, kid!" Dean shouted.

I threw the letter opener as hard as I could and stuck my leg out to kick the wraith. She fell backwards slightly and Dean quickly stabbed her in the heart. She let out one more scream as the silver burned her before falling all the way to the ground.

As soon as the body hit the ground, I bolted to Sam and began untying the straps.

Sam didn't look me in the eyes, but instead he stared straight at Dean. "You still crazy?" he asked Dean.

"Not any more than usual."

"Dean, I need help!" I was still struggling on the first restraint.  
He walked over to Sam's other wrist and easily got it off.  
"We gotta get out of here." Dean walked to Sam's foot to undo another one as I finished the one I was working on.  
"Yeah."  
An alarm sounded around the building. A chill went down my spine, but I quickly ran to Sam's other foot and got the restraint off quicker than the last.

We ran as fast as we could down the hallways, shoving all the nurses out of the way.  
"Here!" Dean huffed as his shoulder rammed into a door with an 'emergency exit' sign. Sam and I ran after Dean and into the fresh air.

I stopped for a moment to take in a deep breath of fresh air, but I soon found myself being pushed forward by Sam.

Dean was headed to the forest, where he'd parked the impala.

The impala came into view after only a few minutes of running.  
"Well, looks like Tom Cruise was right. Shrinks suck." Dean tried to lighten the mood as he approached the driver's door of the impala.  
Sam stopped at the trunk with a sigh and I stopped with him.  
"What are you doing? Sam? You okay?" Dean asked, annoyance evident in his voice.  
"No. No. The wraith-"  
"What about her?" I asked.  
"She was right." Sam's gaze dropped to the ground.

"No, she wasn't. She's dead, okay? Let's hit the road. I need a drink, or twelve." Dean hit his fist on the car, ready to get out of here.  
"Most of the time, I can hide it, but… I am angry. I'm mad at everything. I used to be mad at you and Dad, then Lilith, now it's Lucifer, and I make excuses. I blame Ruby or the demon blood, but it's not their fault. It's not them. It's me. It's inside me. I'm mad… all the time… and I don't know why."

I put my hand on Sam's arm, looking up at him.  
"Stop. Stop it. So what if you are? What are you gonna do? You gonna take a leave of absence? You gonna say yes to Lucifer? What?"  
"No, of course not. I-"  
"Exactly. And that's exactly what you're gonna do. You're gonna take all that crap and you're gonna bury it. You're gonna forget about it, because that's how we keep going! That's how we don't end up like Martin! Are you with me?"  
A moment of silence passed as Sam looked at the ground, his face looked in pain and my heart ached for him.

"Sam, I- we need you."

He looked at me.  
"Come on, man. Are you with me - with us?" Dean put on emphasize on with and I had a bad feeling. _What if this whole Lucifer and Michael thing means I'm going to lose another brother?_

"I'm with you."  
"Good. Let's get the hell out of here."  
Dean quickly climbed into the driver's seat as I slid into the back seat. Sam stood outside of the impala for a little longer before climbing into the passenger seat.

Dean revved the engine and sped off.


	10. The Song Remains the Same

My legs were pulled up to my chest as I sat in a chair, staring out the window.

"Really? Anna? I don't believe it," Dean seemed frustrated about the news of this Anna girl, but part of me was hoping it wouldn't be true. According to this Anna person, if Sam died, it could possibly stop Lucifer and stop the apocalypse.

"It's true," Castiel said.

"So she's gone all Glenn Close, huh? That's awesome," Dean huffed.

Castiel stood up a little straighter and arched an eyebrow. "Who's Glenn Close?"

"Yeah, I don't know who that is either," I grumbled.

"Really, Shawna? You don't know Glenn Close?" He looked at me and I shook my head. "Glenn Close is no one, just this psycho bitch who likes to boil rabbits." Dean walked closer to Sam.

"So the plan to kill me, would it actually stop Satan?"

"No, Sam, come on."

I lifted my head up from my knees and looked at Sam. His breath was rushing, but somehow he didn't seem upset that his death could possibly be a good thing. I closed my eyes and hoped that Sam wouldn't go through with it even if it could stop the apocalypse.

"Cas, what do you think? Does Anna have a point?"

"No. She's, uh, Glenn Close," Castiel responded. I opened my eyes. I knew that Castiel could easily be lying, but it felt reassuring to at least have someone say that Sam dying couldn't stop this all.

"I don't get it. We're looking for the chick that wants to gank Sam. Why poke the bear?"

"Anna will keep trying. She won't give up until Sam is dead. So we kill her first." Castiel pulled an oil out of his coat pocket. "Someone get a bowl."

I stretched my legs and leaned back against the chair.

Sam brought a bowl to Castiel and he poured the oil into the bowl. He leaned forward over the bowl and began chanting some kinds of spell. "Zod ah ma ra la ee est la gi ro sa."

Red flames sparked up from the bowl and Castiel backed away. He placed his hands on the back of a chair and his breathing grew heavy.

"Cas?" I stood up, worried.

"I've found her."

"Where is she?" Dean demanded.

"Not where. When." Castiel released his grip on the chair. "It's nineteen seventy-eight."

"What?" Sam said, confusion filling his tired face. "Why nineteen seventy-eight? I wasn't even born yet."

"You won't be if she kills your parents."

"What?"

Castiel walked towards Sam and Dean as I sat back down, feeling helpless as always.

"Anna can't get to you because of me. So she's going after them."

"Take us back right now," Dean's voice was firm as I noticed his hands clenching into fists.

"And deliver you right to Anna? I should go alone."

"They're our parents. Cas, we're going."

"It's not that easy." Castiel backed up from the boys.

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"Time travel was difficult even with the powers of heaven at my disposal."

"Which got cut off."

"So, what, you're like a Delorean without enough plutonium?" Dean crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't understand that reference. But I'm telling you, taking this trip, with passengers no less—" Castiel shook his head. "—it'll weaken me."

Dean walked up to Castiel and looked him in the eyes. "They're our mom and dad. If we can save them, and not just from Anna... I mean if we can set things right, we have to try."

Castiel shook his head once more, but remained silent.

"I'm coming with you both. I want to see dad. I've never met him and just seeing him… it would mean a lot to me," I spoke up, but my voice wavered as I spoke. Brining three people back in time could really drain Cas.

"Fine, but if anything goes wrong, Cas will send you straight back here."

"Fine." I walked over to the boys things and grabbed a duffel bag. Castiel walked toward me and placed a jar and his angel blade in there. "Are you sure about this?" I whispered into Castiel's ear.

"No, but they're not really giving me a choice." Castiel grabbed the duffel bag from me and held it out toward the boys. "Ready?"

Sam grabbed the bag and slipped it over his shoulder. "Not really."

"Bend your knees and Shawna, come here." Dean commanded.

I walked over to Dean and he slipped his arm around me, holding me tight. Castiel lifted his hands to Sam and Dean's head and in the blink of an eye, we had traveled to a new time.

I blinked open eyes my eyes and immediately spotted cars in front of us.

"Get out of the street!" someone shouted.

Dean grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side of the road, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a car in the lane over.

"Did we make it?" Sam asked.

"Unless they're bringing Pintos back into production, I, uh, I'd say yes."

"Where's Cas?" I looked to my side and spotted him on the ground, leaning against a car.

"Cas?" Sam said, spotting him just shortly after I did. We ran over to Cas and knelt beside him, blood was pouring out of his nose.

"Is he okay?" I said, my voice just below a whisper.

Dean looked at me before speaking to Cas. "Hey."

"Hey, hey, hey." Sam grabbed his shirt to try and prop him up.

"Take it easy. Take it easy. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I'm much better than I expected." Sam and Dean both grabbed Castiel's arms to try and prop him up, but Castiel coughed up blood and slipped into unconsciousness.

"Cas?" Sam put his hand in front of Castiel's mouth. "He's breathing. Sort of. What do we do?"

"As much as I want to see dad, Cas needs to be taken care of. Is there somewhere we can go?" I said, pulling my jacket off.

"A hotel maybe?" Dean suggested.

I placed my jacket under Cas' nose, trying to catch the blood. "That'll be fine." I used my jacket to soak up the blood then placed my hand on his forehead to find it hot to the touch.

"You'll stay with Cas?" Sam asked.

"Listen, I'd rather not, but do you think he's in any state to just be left alone. Anyways, I'm not so good at killing ang- anything yet."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Anna isn't looking for me. Let's go to a hotel."

Sam and Dean grabbed Castiel by either arm and lifted him off the ground. Cas' body remained limp. They dragged him along the ground until we spotted a hotel a couple buildings down.

"Sam." Dean stopped moving.

"Yeah?"

"Find out where mom and dad are. I'll get them all checked in."

"Fine."

I walked to the side that Sam was holding and we switched spots. Cas' body weighed me down, but we kept walking until we reached the hotel.

Inside, a bored man was at the front desk, chewing on a piece of gum. "Stay right here."

I nodded my head at Dean and watched him walk to the desk. "Hi. Could I get a room?"

"Sure. How many people?" the front desk man smacked his gum between every word.

"Two. It's for my sister and her," Dean paused. "Friend?"

"The honeymoon suite is the cheapest option for two people. How many nights?"

'Five." Dean pulled his wallet out and handed the man some cash. The man gave him something in return and Dean walked back over to me. He wrapped his arm around Cas and immediately began walking. I grunted as I begin to walk too.

We reached the room in no time and luckily it was on the first floor. Dean loosened his grip on Cas in order to open the door and my legs struggled to keep both Cas and I up. Dean walked into the room and laughed.

"Laugh later. Help me now please," I managed to say, my legs now shaking.

"Oh, right." He ran back and grabbed Cas' side. We worked together to move him to the bed then plopped him down right in the middle.

"Can you tell me about dad when we get back? I've never met him."

"Yeah, sure." Dean looked at me. "Are you sure you'll be okay? I wouldn't mind having you tag along. You'd finally have a chance to meet dad."

I sighed and sat at the edge of the bed. "I would… and I want to, but Cas… we can't leave him like this."

Dean nodded his head in understanding and pulled some cash out his wallet. "Make sure you're eating and if he wakes up with some strength, come find us."

"O-okay."

Dean pulled out $40 and handed it to me. "Stay safe, kid."

"I will!" I called out after him as he began to walk out the door.

"God, I could've met dad today." I let out a silent scream of frustration before standing up. My eyes immediately went to Cas; some blood still remained under his nose, but he was stationary, barely even moving his chest to breathe. I went to the bathroom and pulled out two hand towels. I wetted them both and went back to the bed. I laid the colder of the two on Cas' forehead and used the other one to clean up the remaining blood.

I sat on the side of the bed and kept my eyes on Cas, hoping that he'd wake up soon so that I'd have the chance to meet dad.

"Shawna. Shawna." I felt a finger nudging into the side of my face and looked up to find Cas standing next to me. I quickly sat up.

"Cas? You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Where's Sam and Dean?"

"They went after Anna." Cas' face was pale and I wasn't sure how much longer he could stand. "Cas, please sit down. They'll be back soon."

"No, I need to find where Anna is and help them."

"No, you need to rest and regain some strength. They've got this taken care of." Cas wobbled and I pulled on his arm. "Please sit down."

"We need to make sure that Anna is taken care o-"

A faint breeze hit me before the man appeared in front of me. His hair was a dark brown and he was slightly taller than Cas.

"Your brothers have requested that I send you back."

"Michael!" Cas' voice rose to a shout and he shook my grip off of his arm. "What'd you do?!"

"I did what had to be done and I promised that I would send you two back since I sent the boys back too. Please don't resist." The man walked closer to Cas and I. He raised his hands as I stood up. His fingers touched both of our foreheads like Cas did earlier and in the blink of an eye, we were back in the modern day.

I quickly slid my hands down my side to check that I was okay before looking around the room. Sam was facing away from us, but he noticed us first.

"Castiel." Sam turned around as I noticed what he was seeing, Cas's face was becoming paler by the minute. I stood behind him, expecting a fall. Sure enough, Cas fell onto me. I struggled to hold him up.

"Hey. Hey, hey. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Sam ran over and grabbed Cas' arm, relieving some of the weight from me.

"Cas!" Dean shouted. He ran over and grabbed the other arm. I stepped away from them.

"We got you," Sam said.

"You son of a bitch. You made it."

"I… I did? I'm very surprised." Cas took one more breath before closing his eyes and passing out.

"Whoa! You're okay."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."

"Get him on the bed. I'll go get a cold washcloth." I turned my back on them and ran to the bathroom. Luckily none of the towels had been used yet, so I grabbed a white washcloth and soaked it in cold water. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. My hair was in tangles and covered in grease. I was in desperate need of a shower, but this whole apocalypse thing needed to be top priority.

I walked out of the bathroom to find the boys deep in conversation with beers in their hands.

"It's not funny," Sam said.

"I'm not laughing."

Upon approaching the bed, I laid the washcloth on Cas' head.

Sam sighed before speaking again. "They all say we'll say yes."

"I know. It's getting annoying."

"What if they're right?"

"They're not."

"I mean, why, why would we, either of us? But...I've been weak before."

"Sam."

"Michael got Dad to say yes."

"That was different. Anna was about to kill Mom."

"And if you could save Mom… what would you say?"

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the present moment. I couldn't worry about the future because for all I know, all we had was today.

Silence filled the room for a while before Sam spoke up. "You'd be a good mom, Shawna."

"If I last that long." I opened my eyes.

"You will. You've got to."

I looked at Sam and smiled. "And you have to live that long, too. You too, Dean. Neither of you will say yes and someday, you'll each be able to have your own family."

Sam looked down at his hands. "Hopefully," he said with his voice just below a whisper.


	11. Point of No Return

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped my towel around my body. The steam filled the cramped bathroom and fogged up the mirror. I walked toward the sink and turned on my phone to check the date. It had been several days since I'd left Sam and Dean to have some time to myself, but I still checked my phone everyday, waiting for them to call me back into the mess.

I dried myself off and slid my clothes on. It was nice to have some time to shower and wash my clothes like a normal person. I grabbed my phone before leaving the bathroom and sat on the hotel bed.

A vibration in my hand signaled to me that something was going on and I looked down at my phone to find Dean calling. My heart skipped a beat and I accepted the call.

"Did something happen?" I inquired, hoping that nothing too bad had happened while I was away.

"Adam. He's here. We need you ASAP."

"Don't joke with me. My brother's dead."

"No, I kid you not, he is laying right here in front of me. Are you near Bobby's house?"

"Yeah. I'm literally at the closest hotel to Bobby's house. I'll be there soon, but if you are lying to me-"

"I'm not. Hurry up."

A beep sounded from my phone as Dean ended the call. I quickly threw my belongings into a small backpack and ran out the door. My heart pounded in my chest and my mind felt conflicted. On the one hand, I wanted to see Adam. No, I needed to see Adam. I needed to be with my true family again. But on the other hand, how could someone come back to life?

I had yet to receive my license, but I still needed to get there quickly, so running was my only option. To see if what Dean was saying was true.

My shins ached by the time I reached Bobby's house. Running wasn't exactly my go-to form of exercise. I pulled open the door and stopped dead in my tracks. Standing right there in front of me was… no, it can't be.

"Shawna?"

I slid my backpack off and let it fall to the floor. "A-adam? But you were dead. You were dead. I saw your body." My eyes begin to well with tears.

Adam walked over to me and embraced me in a long hug. "I don't know how to explain it either."

He pulled away from the hug and looked at me. "Why are you here with these guys?"

"They're our brothers. They've been taking care of me."

"They're not our true brothers. If they were, we would've met them sooner. The angels told me not to trust them."

"The angels? What? But all Sam and Dean've done is protect me since you and mom... died."

"Hey, quit the arguing. We have more important issues right now," Dean interrupted us while walking over and using his hands to seperate us. "What were you saying, Adam?"

"Well, these… these angels, they popped out of nowhere, and they tell me that I—I'm chosen."

"For what?" Sam asked.

"To save the world."

I looked at Adam, confusion filling my brain. Sam and Dean are supposed to be the ones to save the world by stopping the apocalypse, not Adam. This doesn't make any sense.

"How you gonna do that?" Dean crossed his arms over his chest while speaking.

"Oh, me and some archangel are going to kill the devil."

My heart skipped a beat and my mouth fell open.

"What archangel?"

"Michael. I'm his uh, sword or vessel or something, I don't know."

"Well, that's insane."

"Not necessarily," Castiel butt in.

I tried to get myself together enough to talk, but none of this made sense. _Why is Adam all of a sudden Michael's vessel and why does he seem like he's already made up his mind?_

"How do you mean?"

"Maybe they're moving on from you, Dean."

"Well that doesn't make sense."

"He is John Winchester's bloodline, Sam's brother. It's not perfect, but it's possible."

"Well you gotta be kidding me."

I finally gathered myself enough to talk. "No, no. This is all insane. None of you are saying yes to letting the archangels use your body, especially not you, Adam." My hand clenched into fists. "I just got you back! I'm not going to lose you again!"

"I'm glad to see you again and all, but-" Adam started.

"No!" I stopped him mid sentence. "You are not going to say yes! If anybody says yes, it'll be me. I'm not letting you go through this." Tears begin streaming down my cheeks.

"Woah woah woah wait. No." Dean pushed my hands down; I hadn't realized that I had lifted them up to punch something. "No. You are not saying yes. You can't even say yes. Your body isn't strong enough."

"He's right," Cas added. "You're not an adult yet. Your body isn't fully developed. Michael needs a strong, fully developed host so that the body won't combust. Also, something is telling me that even if you were an adult," Cas' forehead bunched together and he raised on eyebrow, "That you still couldn't be a vessel for Michael or Lucifer."

I looked at Cas, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. I can't explain it."

"Why would the angels focus on Adam now instead of Dean?" Sam said, trying to change the subject.

"Maybe they're desperate. Maybe they _wrongly_ assumed Dean would be brave enough to withstand them."

"Alright, you know what? Blow me, Cas," Dean said, clearly frustrated.

A slight chuckle slipped between my lips. Taken out of context, that phrase would sound so wrong. I looked up at Adam's face though and any slight hint of being happy slid off my face.

"Look, no way. After everything that's happened? All that crap about destiny? Suddenly the angels have a Plan B? Does that smell right to anybody?" Sam's eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"You know this has been a _really_ moving family reunion, but uh, I got a thing, so—" Adam looked like he was about to leave and I grabbed his arm, stopping him from getting away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no. Sit down. Just listen, okay? Please."

"It's unbelievable."

'Now, Adam… the angels are _lying_ to you. They're full of crap."

'Yeah, I don't think so."

"Really. Why not?"

"Um, 'cause they're _angels_."

"They tell you they were gonna roast half the planet?"

"They said the fight might get pretty hairy, but it is the devil, right? So we got to stop him."

"Angels aren't what you think they are. Please just listen to us," I pleaded. "They're not all good and some of them are using humans for their own purposes like they are with you. They aren't even thinking about you."

Adam shook his arm to get me off. "It's the devil. The actual devil that they're trying to stop. If I don't do this, humans will be used by things worse than angels."

I bit my lip. I understood what he was saying, but I'd never accept it. Never. Adam was back now and he was going to stay back, no matter what.

"There's another way to stop Lucifer," Sam made another attempt to try and get Adam to say no, but tears were now free flowing down my face. Adam changed when he was in heaven and I wasn't sure that we'd be able to change him back.

"Great. What is it?"

"We're working on 'the power of love.'" I slapped my hand to my forehead as Dean said that. _You're supposed to be convincing him, not sounding like an idiot._ I wanted to say something, but I felt so powerless in this situation. Adam and I used to be so close, but now it feels like there's distance between us and our close bond isn't fully there anymore.

"How's that going?" Adam asked, snarkiness to his voice.

"Mmm. Not good."

"Look, Adam… You don't know me from a hole in the wall, I know. But I'm begging you. Please, just trust me. Give me some time," Sam pleaded.

"Give me one good reason." Adam refused to make any eye contact with me.

"Because we're blood."

"You've got no right to say that to me."

"You're still John's boy," Bobby said.

"No, John Winchester was some guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. I don't have a dad. So we may be blood, but we are not family. My mom and Shawna are my family. And if I do my job, I'll get to see my mom again. So no offense, but my mom's the one I give a rat's ass about, not you three strangers."

"I'm your family, too, Adam and I need you." I looked at him, hoping to get even a look back, but he didn't look toward me at all.

"But I have a chance to save mom right now. As much as you need me, bringing mom back is more important."

I let a tear roll down my cheek as I backed away from Adam and let myself slide down the wall to sit on the floor.

"If you have one good memory of dad, just one, then you'll give us a little more time. Please." Sam took a look at me quickly. His eyes were filled with fear and I wished I could do something more to stop Adam. I pulled my legs to my chest and rested my head on my knees.

Adam's eyes quickly glanced at the door as Bobby turned around in his seat.

"Going somewhere?" Sam asked.

"Out for a… beer."

"Great. We got beer. Have a seat."

"Please don't leave us, Adam." I wiped the remaining tears of my face, but didn't lift my chin off my knees.

"You know, you pitched this whole dewy-eyed bromance thing, but the truth is, I'm on lockdown, aren't I?"

"Adam, you may not believe it, but dad was trying to protect you. Keeping you from all of this," Sam attempted to be the voice of reason.

"Yeah well, I guess the monster that ate me didn't get that memo."

"You remember that?"

"Oh yeah."

"Adam…" my voice faded into silence. Having seen his dead body was bad enough, but knowing that he remembered what happened… I bit my cheek to refrain myself from joining the conversation.

"Still, trust me. The one thing worse than seeing dad once a year was seeing him _all_ year."

"Do you know how full of crap you are?"

"What?"

"Really. You see, it was me, my mom, and Shawna. That's it. She worked the graveyard shift at the hospital. Shawna attended school all day and I cooked our dinners. I put myself to bed. So you can say whatever you want about our dad, but the truth is, I would have taken anything."

Sam nodded his head in understanding.

"Alright?"

"Look, if we had known we had a brother—"

"Well, you didn't, so…"

"—We would have found you."

Adam scoffed and shook his head.

"Look, I can't change the past. I wish I could. But from here on out—"

"What? We gonna hop in the family truckster? Pop on down to Wally World?"

"Tell you one thing, with an attitude like that, you would have fit right in around here."

I had some many things I wanted to say. So many ways I could convince Adam to stay, but I found myself too frustrated to speak. It hadn't been too long ago that Adam and mom were all I had, but now, Sam and Dean were the ones who supported me. I wanted to go back to Adam, but the way he was acting… It was like I didn't even know him anymore.

The rest of the day was filled with silence between Adam and I. I knew that we would need to talk eventually, but the looks he gave me were enough to warn me not to push him right now. I remained on the floor, not getting up for anything. Adam soon fell asleep, but I refused to sleep, knowing that any moment I was sleeping, Adam could be saying yes to Michael.

I kept my eyes on Adam, watching him while he slept. I had no clue where Sam and Dean where, but they weren't what was important right now. I watched Adam's chest rise and fall with each breath and sighed.

After about an hour of sitting there in silence, Adam bolted upright.

"Adam?" I jumped to my feet. "Are you okay?"

"Shawna, please listen to me. We don't have much time." Adam walked toward me. "Whatever happens, stay safe. Don't trust anyone. Promise me."

I nodded my head.

"Please let me hear it." His eyes were widened and his hands were shaking. "Please."

"What's going on?"

"Please."

"I pr…" A flash of light filled the room and I covered my eyes, temporarily blinded. "...omise." When I opened my eyes, Adam was nowhere to be seen. "Adam?!" I shrieked and ran toward where he stood. There were no marks on the cold, wood floor and nothing anywhere near where he was. "Bobby! Bobby!" I yelled, my body now shaking.

Footsteps thundered up the stairs as I fell to my knees. "Bobby! Bobby help!" My eyes became filled with tears once more and my shouts changed from clear English to muffled sobs.

"Balls," Bobby's voice came from behind me and I turned around to look at him.

"H-help please." My face was now coated in tears and snot ran down chin. "H-he's gone."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and used my sleeve to wipe away the tears.

"We'll get him back. Don't you worry."

Still shaking, I slid forward and laid my head against the ground. The cold floor greeted me and I let myself cry.

"I'm going to call the boys, okay?"

I nodded my head and placed my hand against the ground where Adam once stood. Adam was gone again and there was nothing I could do to change that.

I hadn't heard them come in, but I heard Sam and Bobby when their voices started.

"Bobby, what do you mean, 'Adam is gone?'"

"Should I say it in Spanish?"

My shaky hand pushed against the floor to start in helping me get up off the ground. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at Sam. Dean and Cas weren't back yet.

"He's gone how? What the hell, Bobby?!"

"Watch your tone, boy."

"He was right in front of me, and there was a bright light and then he was gone." My legs wobbled as I stood up and looked around the dark room.

A swoosh came from my side and I looked over to find Cas and Dean. Dean's face was bloodied up and I sighed. If it were any other time, I would ask him what happened. If it were any other time, I'd do something to help him. But it's not any other time.

"The angels took him," Cas said matter of factly.

Sam's eyes immediately fell on Dean and his eyes widened. "What the hell happened to him?"

"Me."

"What do you mean, the angels took Adam? You branded his ribs, didn't you?" Bobby asked.

"Yes. Adam must have tipped them."

"How?"

"I don't know. Maybe in a dream."

"Adam woke up from his sleep and something seemed off… He told me to stay safe no matter what happened. Oh my god." I grabbed at my hair with my hands and screamed between my gritted teeth.

"Shawna, you've got to take deep breaths and calm down." I looked at Sam. "We're going to find him and he's going to be okay. Where do you think the angels would have taken him?"

"Take Dean to the panic room. I'll see what I can find." Cas closed his eyes.

Sam grabbed Dean's arm and dragged him down the stairs.

I sniffed and wiped more of the tears off my face.

"Shawna, you're distracting me."

"S-sorry." I ran to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess and my face was covered in tears. I turned on the water and splashed it on my face before looking at myself again. My hands shook, but I gripped the edge of the sink, letting the water continue to run.

 _Why Adam? Why?! The sigil was on you. You had to have told them. That's the only way they could've found you!_

The grip on my sink grew tighter.

"I found him."

I spun around, confused that anyone had come in the bathroom and found Cas. "Jeez, you couldn't have knocked?"

"No. I found Adam. I already told Sam to get Dean ready. Let's go."

"What happens if Adam says yes to Michael?'

"I'm not sure. We'll find a way to save him though."

I nodded my head, hoping for the best even though I had a bad feeling about this.

I followed Cas down the stairs to the panic room. Dean was rubbing his wrists and I noticed opened handcuffs on the ground.

"Are you sure you're okay to come with us, Shawna?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. I have to. He's my brother. He's always been there for me. I'm not just going to leave him all alone with the angels."

When we arrived at the location, we were surprised to find what looked to be an abandoned warehouse. There were no lights. No cars. No noise. I hoped that Cas was right about this.

"Where the hell are we?" Dean demanded.

"Van Nuys, California."

"Where's the beautiful room?"

"In there."

"The beautiful room is in an abandoned muffler factory in Van Nuys, California?"

I bit my lip, doubt filling my brain.

"Where'd you think it was?"

"I—I don't know. Jupiter? A blade of grass? Not Van Nuys."

"Tell me again why you don't just grab Adam and shazam the hell out of there," Sam questioned, his arms crossed over his chests.

"Because there are at least five angels in there," Cas responded.

"So? You're fast," Dean pointed out.

"They're faster." Cas took off his tie and wrapped it around his palm. "I'll clear them out. You guys grab the boy. This is our only chance."

My eyes quickly glanced from Sam to Dean.

"Whoa, wait. You're gonna take on five angels?" Dean asked.

"Yes."

"Isn't that suicide?"

"Maybe it is. But then I won't have to watch you fail. I'm sorry, Dean. I don't have the same faith in you that Sam does." Cas pulled something sharp out of one of the pockets in his trench coat.

"What the hell are you gonna do with that?" Sam looked confused as he spoke.

Cas didn't respond.

"Hey Cas." I walked over to him and gave him a quick hug. "In case anything, you know happens, I wanted to say thank you for helping us with this."

Cas nodded his head at me before turning his back on us and heading inside.

Those few minutes without Cas felt like hours. I accidentally tore my nail while messing with my fingers in an attempt to do anything to distract myself from what was about to happen.

"Remember, if any angel is in there, let Dean and I handle it. You need to focus on Adam and get him out of here."

"How will we know when it's time to go in?" I asked.

"Well, that looks like a sign."

I turned around to find light pouring out of any visible holes in the building.

I entered the warehouse after Sam and Dean. My hands were balled into fists. I didn't have an angel killing blade, but a good punch to the face might delay them if need be. There was one angel in the room, but it had a hole in it's stomach and it appeared to be dead.

We kept moving forward to the next door. Dean flung the door open and immediately ran into the room. The brightness of the room caught me off guard for a second. Everything was white and seemed so perfect.

"Adam, hey. Hey," Dean's voice alerted me that we'd found Adam. I ran into the room and knelt beside Adam. I smiled at him, realizing that he appeared not to have any major injuries if any.

"You all came for me."

"Yeah, well, you're family." Dean helped Adam up.

"Get out of here." Adam looked me in the eyes. "It's a trap."

I looked back to find a man standing behind us. He wore a fancy suit.

"I figured." Dean stood up, leaving Adam on the ground.

"Dean, please. Did you really think it would be that easy?" the angel said with a smile.

"Did _you_?" Dean said with confidence..

Sam ran at the man from behind, angel blade in hand, but the man quickly knocked the blade away and sent Sam flying. Sam hit the wall with a thud. I balled my hands into fists once more.

"Sam!"

I stood up to face the man and walked to stand beside Dean.

"Who's she? Did I miss something?" the man looked confused.

"I'm their sister."

"Wha-"

I didn't let him finish his phrase and I threw a punch at his face. My knuckles smacked his cheek and I immediately pulled my fist back. It stung a little, but when I looked at the man's face, he appeared unphased.

"Really?" The man moved his hand over ever so slightly and I felt my feet slide across the floor, out of my control. My body smacked into the wall near Adam; the air was knocked out of me and I laid there, unmoving.

Adam's gaze immediately went to me, but I held my hand out to stop him as I noticed he was taking a step toward me. I wasn't the top priority right now. The top priority was getting Adam out of here alive.

"You know what I've learned from this experience, Dean? Patience," the angel said. He waved his hand once more and Adam fell to the ground. He began coughing. At first I didn't see Adam's face as he was coughing, but his head jerked to the side and I noticed blood coming out with every cough. I forced myself to sit up, but my back hurt from hitting the wall.

"Adam?" Dean's voice was filled with worry. "Let him go, you son of a bitch."

"I mean, I thought I was downsized for sure. And for us, a firing… pretty damn literal. But I should have trusted the boss man. It's all playing out like he said… You, me, your hemorrhaging brothers." The angel turned to look at Sam and clenched his fist. Sam immediately began coughing up blood like Adam.

"You're finally ready, right?"

Dean looked from Sam to Adam, contemplating what to do.

"You know there's no other choice. There's never been a choice."

Dean didn't respond, but his face grew red from anger. The angel looked at me and flicked his hand in my direction. I felt a pain in my gut and began coughing. Blood came out of my mouth with every cough. I held my hand to my mouth, unsure of what to do. The pain caused my body to curl up into a ball.

"Stop it. Stop it right now!" Dean shouted.

"In exchange for what?"

"Damn it, Zachariah. Stop it, please. I'll do it."

I looked up at Dean. Though I was still coughing, I shook my head at him. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not ever. I couldn't be losing a brother again.

"I'm sorry. What was that?"

"Okay, yes. The answer is yes."

"Dean!" Sam shouted, blood covering his chin.

"Do you hear me? Call Michael down, you bastard!"

I tried to get up and to say something, anything, but the coughing and the pain prevented me from moving in any way.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"Do I look like I'm lying?"

" _Zodiredo… noco… aberamage… nazodpesade…_ " the man chanted, presumably calling Michael down. "He's coming."

Sam arched a brow at Dean. It was clear that he was worried. I couldn't see Dean's face, but I could tell that he was looking at Sam.

"Of course, I have a few conditions."

"What?"

"The few people whose safety you have to guarantee before I say yes."

"Sure, fine. Make a list."

"But most of all… Michael can't have me until he disintegrates you."

A flurry of happiness hit me before my heart sunk. No matter what conditions were made, it still meant that we would loose Dean.

"What did you say?"

"I said… before Michael gets one piece of this sweet ass… he has to turn you into a piece of charcoal."

"You really think Michael's gonna go for that?"

"Who's more important to him now? You… or me?"

I stole a quick glance at Adam. His chin was covered in blood and he seemed weak. I wished so badly that I could help him. He did nothing wrong. My eyes quickly went back to Dean as Zachariah began to speak again.

"You listen to me. You are nothing but a maggot inside a worm's ass. Do you know who I am… after I deliver you to Michael?"

"Expendable."

"Michael's not gonna kill _me_."

"Maybe not. But _I_ am." I hadn't even noticed the angel blade that Dean had somehow managed to pick up, but he stabbed it up Zachariah's chin and into his skull. Light shone out of his eyes before his body went limp.

A bright light filled the already white room, making it hard to see. I didn't feel the same pain and urge to cough. I slowly stood up as Dean approached Adam. I pushed my hand against the wall to steady myself. A high pitch noise filled the room.

"Can you walk?" Dean asked Adam.

"Yeah."

"Okay, come on." Dean helped Adam up then ran to Sam.

I walked over to Adam and put my arm around his side, hoping that we could possibly balance out each other's weight to help us walk.

"Shawna, I-"

"Not right now. We need to get out of here."

Adam and I began to walk to the next room. Sam and Dean were already in front of us. I could see the doorway in front of us. This was it. This was when I could get out and be free. I could be with my brothers, all together, in one family.

"Come on, move it!" Dean shouted as he and Sam reached the door.

"I'm slowing you down. Get out of here now!" Adam slipped his arm off of me.

"No, I'm not leaving you!" I shouted.

Dean ran back into the room and in one swift motion picked me up to get me out of there. "I'll be right back for you, Ad-" Dean stopped talking as we got out of the building and heard the door slam behind us.

I struggled in Dean's grasp and eventually managed to get myself out. "Adam!" I screamed.

"No! Help! It won't open!" Adam's shouts were faint behind the door.

I urged my body to do something, anything, but even though the pain was gone, my body felt weak. I wanted to go to that door. I wanted to knock it down no matter the cost, but my body refused to let me move.

Dean reached the door and grabbed the handle. He immediately pulled his hand away from whatever the door just did.

"Dean, help! Dean!" Adam's shouts were becoming quieter.

I screamed and immediately began crying. Sam pulled me into a side hug.

"Hold on! We'll get you out. Just hold on. Adam! Can you hear me?!"

A bright light suddenly shone out between all the cracks in the building.

The light faded just seconds after appearing. Dean grabbed the door handle and managed to open the door, but inside was an abandoned office. Adam was nowhere in sight.

"Adam?" Dean asked, looking inside the doorway. There was no response.

I fell to the ground, sobbing. My body felt weak. "No! No! It's not supposed to be this way, this can't be happening!"

The impala sped along the road in pitch blackness. My eyes felt puffy from crying and everything felt wrong, so wrong. _It wasn't supposed to be this way. Adam was supposed to be here with us. We were supposed to be a family together._

"You think Adam's okay?" Sam asked, breaking the silence.

"Doubt it. Cas either. But we'll get 'em," Dean responded.

I stared out the window and felt numb. _How did this happen? How come we couldn't stop it?_

"So."

"'So' what?"

"I saw your eyes. You were totally rockin' the "yes" back there. So, what changed your mind?"

"Honestly? The damnedest thing. I mean, the world's ending. The walls are coming down on us, and I look over to you and all I can think about is, 'this stupid son of a bitch _brought_ me here.' I just didn't want to let you down."

"You didn't. You _almost_ did. But you didn't."

I covered my hands over my ears, wanting to drown out thel conversation, wanting to wake up from this dream and be back to my normal life with Adam and mom. I could still hear their muffled voices through my hands though.

"I owe you an apology."

"No, man. No, you don't."

"Just… let me say this. I don't know if it's being a big brother or what, but to me, you've always been this snot-nosed kid that I've had to keep on the straight and narrow. I think we both know that that's not you anymore. I mean, hell, if you're grown-up enough to find faith in me… the least I can do is return the favor. So screw destiny, right in the face. I say we take the fight to them, and do it our way."

"Sounds good."

They stopped talking and I uncovered my ears. The familiar hum of the moving car greeted my ears as the car sped along the road.


End file.
